Citation
Maurice, or, The red jar

Material Information

Title:
Maurice, or, The red jar : a tale of magic and adventure for boys and girls
Added title page title:
Red jar
Added title page title:
Maurice
Creator:
Jersey, Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers, 1849-1945 ( Author, Primary )
Pitman, Rosie M. M ( Illustrator )
Macmillan & Co ( Publisher )
R. & R. Clark ( Printer )
Place of Publication:
London
New York
Publisher:
Macmillan and Co.
Manufacturer:
R. & R. Clark
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
190, [2] p., [9] leaves of plates : ill. ; 20 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Tutors and tutoring -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Curiosity -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Children's secrets -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Magic -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Theft -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Archery -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Parent and child -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Monsters -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Fantasy literature -- 1894 ( rbgenr )
Publishers' advertisements -- 1894 ( rbgenr )
Hand-colored illustrations -- 1894 ( local )
Baldwin -- 1894
Genre:
Fantasy literature ( rbgenr )
Publishers' advertisements ( rbgenr )
Hand-colored illustrations ( local )
novel ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
England -- London
United States -- New York -- New York
Scotland -- Edinburgh
Target Audience:
juvenile ( marctarget )

Notes

General Note:
Bound in green cloth, stamped in gold.
General Note:
Publisher's advertisements follow text.
General Note:
Baldwin Library copy illustrations are hand-colored: probably by young owner.
Statement of Responsibility:
by the Countess of Jersey ; with illustrations by Rosie M.M. Pitman.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Holding Location:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
Resource Identifier:
026654614 ( ALEPH )
ALG5048 ( NOTIS )
35907137 ( OCLC )
01016438 ( LCCN )

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OR

The Red Jar

A TALE OF ‘MAGIC AND ADVENTURE
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS

BY

THE COUNTESS OF JERSEY

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROSIE M. M. PITMAN

London
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK

1894

All rights reserved






Dedicated

To
BEATRICE
AND

ARTHUR



CHAP.

N

Nn wm > wo

“I

CONTENTS

. Maurice

Tue BirrHpay
Tue Benp oF THE River
Tue Cavern

Tue Rep Jar

. THe Broken SPELL

. Tue Baron’s Srory .
. THe Otp Woman

. THE Journey

. Tue Eartu-Kinc | .
. THe Seconp Qugst .
. Otp ACQUAINTANCE .
. Tse Lasr Trian

. Home Acain

PAGE

10
23
34
47
60
70
gi

106

118

132

147

165

183



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FRONTISPIECE.

THe CastTie : ; ; . To face page \
‘Do we look so very wicked?’ —.. : i. 28
Tue YeLLow Bow A : : a 41

‘He loves to wander in the valley and to
tend the hideous animals who spring

from the river marsh’

” 77

And did not wake till the sun was setting . Bee a Tels

‘I cannot steal,’ gasped Maurice ae 129
The Phoenix with a great swoop dashed

through the Fiery Clouds. : ee Oy,

Some one to care for him, even a red baby ! ee aly 743

The most charming of fairies 5 : ee N88





Tue CasTLe. To face p. 1.



CHAPTER 1
MAURICE

A Lone time ago in a far-off country lived a
little boy called Maurice. He had brown eyes
and curly brown hair, and was nearly eleven
years old at the time our story begins. His
father and mother, the Baron and Baroness von
Brinkman, were the owners of a fine castle stand-
ing near the banks of a river which almost
encircled their property. Maurice was their
only child and they loved him dearly. They
were very careful to have him well taught, and
as there was no school near to which they could
send him, and as they could not bear to let him
go far away while he was young, they had en-
gaged a tutor, Herr Karl, to live in the castle,

Maurice was not an idle boy by any means.
x B



2 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



He learnt well and played well, and he was
kind-hearted and affectionate. Then he was a
good boy? We shall see.

‘Oh, Herr Karl,’ said Maurice, running into
the schoolroom one morning, ‘do you know

‘J know boys ought to take off their hats
when they come into a room,’ remarked Herr
Karl.

‘Well, I had so much news inside my head
that I forgot my hat was outside,’ responded
Maurice, taking it off; ‘only think, Herr Karl,
there’s going to be an archery match. Isn't
that fun?’

‘An archery match? Where?’

‘Inthe village! In Dickwald! And there’s
to be a prize! a beautiful silver horn!’

Here Maurice’s feelings were too many for
him, and he had to relieve them by turning a
somersault, which landed him at Herr Karl’s
feet.

‘But, my dear boy, you have not won the
prize yet, and there are plenty of good shots in
the neighbourhood—grown-up men, too.’

‘Oh yes, but the prize I mean is for boys—
for boys under fourteen. Of course there’s a
man’s prize as well, but that is not nearly so





I MAURICE 3



_ important. I daresay the men will shoot very
well, but there are not many boys who can shoot
better than I can. There's Hans—he and I are
very equal ; and Rudolf—he beat me last time,
but I was very near him the time before. As
for Otto——’

‘As for Otto, he must be postponed for the
present. It is past nine o'clock, and lessons
must be done extra well to-day if you are to
have a holiday to-morrow in honour of your
birthday.’

‘Oh dear,’ sighed Maurice, ‘it will be very
dificult to do one’s lessons extra well with a
birthday to-morrow and an archery meeting
next month to think about. Couldn’t we read
about William Tell or somebody who shot
something anyhow? I think if you could get a
bow and arrows into my lessons I could attend
to them better!’

‘We cannot get William Tell into Roman
history, and you have to read that to-day.’

‘Then give me a dictation about him, do, or
a sum. I am sure you can give me a sum
about how many inches there were in the yards
that he stood away from Albert.’

‘Now, Maurice, leave off talking nonsense



4 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



and get your Latin grammar. You will never
be worth anything, nor accomplish anything
worth doing, if you want to mix up one interest
with another, and to think of two things at
once.’

Maurice fetched his Latin grammar, mutter-
ing an opinion that ¢hat was not an interest, but
I hope Herr Karl did. not hear him. At all
events he said nothing in answer, and Maurice
was soon absorbed in rules of syntax.

No sooner were Maurice’s morning lessons
ended than he dashed off to tell his mother
about the archery match, and to ask her to take
him to buy one or two new arrows which he
thought he needed both for practice and for
the great occasion. Baroness von Brinkman
promised to do so next time she went to the
town, which was about five miles off, and
having listened to all that Maurice had to say
on the subject, said she had business to attend to,
and rose to leave the room.

‘J am going to practise at the target,’ said
Maurice, and he got up and followed her.

Now the staircase was a little beyond Baroness
von Brinkman’s dressing-room door. She went
into her dressing-room and thought that Maurice



I MAURICE 5



had gone downstairs. He started with that inten-
tion, but lingered, as he had often done before, to
look at a picture of a battle which hung on the
staircase, and while he was still standing on the
steps his mother came out of her room again and
walked somewhat hastily along the corridor past
the head of the stairs. Maurice looked up, but
she did not see him, and he began to wonder
where she was going. Partly from curiosity
and partly for fun, he followed her very quietly
at a little distance. She stopped at a door
which Maurice never remembered to have seen
opened, took a key from her pocket and un-
locked it.. She passed through it, leaving it ajar,
and Maurice, still following, pushed it further
open and peeped inside. He saw a small room
with no furniture in it, except a couple of chairs
and an old-fashioned cabinet, consisting of a
cupboard with wooden doors as its lower part,
and three shelves above, with brass lattice work
in front of them. Baroness von Brinkman,
with another and smaller key, unfastened the
lock which secured the lattice work and threw
it open, so that Maurice saw plainly what was
before partly hidden by the brass bars—a red
jar standing on the middle shelf of the three.



6 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



She took the jar down, dusted it very carefully
with a duster which she had brought with her,
held it for a minute or two in her hand as if she
were considering it intently, and then put it back
on the shelf. She pushed the lattice into its
place again and turned the lock which kept it
there, and not till she was about to leave the
room did she see Maurice standing very quietly
in the doorway.

‘What are you doing here, child?’

‘Nothing, mama, I was looking at you.
Why do you keep that red jar so carefully
locked up all by itself in that cupboard? Is it
very precious?’

‘So precious that you must never touch it
on any account whatever, nor go into the room
by yourself. Mind what I say, Maurice—and
more than this, you must not talk about the
red jar to any one.’

‘Not to Herr Karl?’

‘No, not even to Kerr Karl. No one must
know anything about it but papa and I.’

‘But why is it such a secret mama?’

‘Never mind my dear—you shall know when
you are older—now I must put away the keys.’

‘Oh, and mama,’ said Maurice, ‘will you



I MAURICE 7



give me the fresh ribbons you promised me for
my bow? I want to tie them on.’

‘Very well,’ answered his mother ; ‘ come with
me to my room.’

Baroness von Brinkman and Maurice went
back to her dressing-room, and Maurice watched
his mother put the keys she had used into a
small drawer which she locked, then she put the
key of the drawer into her desk, and locked the
desk with one of the keys belonging to a bunch
which she always kept in her pocket, as Maurice
was well aware. He hardly knew why he paid
such particular attention to her movements,
though he felt curious about the jar, and wondered
why she locked up key after key so carefully.
However, wonder was vain—Baroness von Brink-
man looked for the ribbon he had asked for, and
made him up a pretty knot with long ends to
fasten to his bow. Between the ribbon and a
little more conversation as to the shooting
powers of Hans, Otto, Rudolf, and various other
boys, the red jar was for a while forgotten, and
Maurice ran off to practise at the target till
dinner-time.

After dinner more lessons, and these ended,
Maurice was free to go down to the village,





3 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



where, under the guidance of Herr Karl, some
of the boys had formed themselves into a kind
of club for archery and other games. Of course
at the present minute archery carried all before
it, and the one thought in every mind and the
one subject of every tongue was, Who hit the
bull’s eye yesterday? What score is so-and-so
making this evening? Who will shoot best on.
the 5th of August—the day of the great match?

‘Well, if I can’t get the prize myself I hope
the young Baron will,’ cried Rudolf, a sturdy
red-haired lad, as Maurice arrived on the
scene.

‘I wish we could all get prizes,’ remarked
Hans, a rather sleepy youth, but a good shot
nevertheless.

‘If we did they would not be prizes,’ said
Otto, very sagely.

‘Why not?’ asked Maurice.

‘Isn’t a prize something given to the person
who does best?” questioned Otto.

‘Why, yes—I suppose so.’

‘Well, if we all did equally well and all had
presents, nobody would have done best, and so
the presents would not be prizes.’

‘J shouldn’t care whether they were called



I MAURICE 9



prizes or presents so long as I had one,’ rejoined
Hans.

‘And I don’t think you are right,’ returned
Rudolf. ‘A prize is something given to you
because you have done well; there need not be a

“question of doing better than other people.’

‘There is this time at all events,’ said
Maurice. ‘We shall have to do better than other
people if we are to get the silver horn.’

‘Take my advice, boys, and do your dest
whether you get the silver horn or not,’ put in
Herr Karl.

‘And we shall not do our best unless we
practise now instead of talking,’ remarked Albert,
a tall boy who was standing a little apart from
the others.

Whereupon there was a general stringing of
bows and choosing of arrows, and the question
raised by Otto was left unsettled so far as the
youth of Dickwald was concerned.

Maurice shot well, but Rudolf shot better
that evening, and when Maurice went to bed he
dreamt that the red jar was fixed on the top of
a high pole, and that he and the other boys were
shooting at: it till at last his arrow hit it and
broke it all to atoms.



CHAPTER I
THE BIRTHDAY

Wepnespay, July 5th, was Maurice’s birthday.
The sun shone very brightly, and the birds sang
very merrily on the particular 5th July when he
completed eleven years of life, and as he dressed
himself fresh ideas almost chased away those of
the day before.

‘I wonder what papa and mama will give
me to-day, thought he. ‘There! there’s a button
off my shirt, and now I must get another—
always the way when one is in a hurry—they
gave me my bow and arrows and quiver last
year—and my desk the year before—wherever
are my shoes—I wish Bridget would put them
where I can ftnd them—oh, here’s one—where
can the other be? Ah, I remember | threw it
on the top of the cupboard to bring down my



CHAP, II THE BIRTHDAY Ir



ball, but it didn’t bring down my ball, and now
they are both up there. What am I to do?
Will papa mind my being late on a birthday
morning? I hope he won’t say we must begin
breakfast, and keep my present till afterwards—
I do so want to know what itis. Could J shoot
my shoe off the top of the cupboard I wonder?
Then mama does not like my shooting in the
house. It couldn’t hurt anybody though if I
shot at my shoe. My shoe would not feel if I
did hit it, but it might spoil my ball if it hit
that. Well, I must put on my boots and leave
my shoe and my ball to take care of each other.
My boots will take ever so much longer to put
on. What can my present be?’

Even the boots contrived to be laced at last,
and Maurice ran downstairs to breakfast.

‘Many happy returns of the day, my boy,’
said his father.

‘Many happy returns of the day, dear,’ added
his mother.

‘Many happy returns of the day to you,
Maurice,’ said Herr Karl; and they all smiled,
and made no remark about breakfast having
been ready some minutes before.

‘And do you think the sth of July has



12 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



produced anything besides good wishes?’ asked
Baron von Brinkman, after Maurice had thanked
them and said good morning.

Maurice got rather red and answered that he
did not know.

‘Well, look out of the window,’ said his
father, and the boy hastened to do so.

The windows of the breakfast room, like those
of most of the living rooms in the castle, over-
looked the river, which was here only separated
from the building by a narrow strip of flower
garden. At the bottom of this garden three
stone steps led down to the water, and what
was Maurice’s delight to see moored to an iron
ring near the foot of the steps a lovely little boat
such as a boy could easily row and ‘manage.
Two sculls lay ready in the boat, and a bright
red flag with ‘Maurice’ worked on it in white
letters hung from a white pole at the bow.

‘Oh, thank you, thank you, papa; thank you,
mama!’ cried Maurice, clapping his hands and
beginning to dance round the room. ‘A boat
that I can row myself! What fun! The old
one was much too heavy, and old Peter was
always too busy or too idle to come with me.
I may go alone in this one, mayn’t I?’



ul THE BIRTHDAY 13



‘Yes, my boy, on one condition,’ answered
his father. ‘You know no one ever took you
in the old boat further than the bend of the
river on the way to Helmer, nor beyond the
bridge below Dickwald. You may row between
these two boundaries as much as you like, but
you must never go beyond them.’

‘Oh, there’s plenty of room between them,’
returned Maurice readily ; ‘but I wonder why
we never go beyond the bend of the river. I
know there is a waterfall below the Dickwald
bridge which makes that side dangerous, but
old Peter could never tell me what was the
danger of the upper part of the river, and I
forgot to ask you before.’

‘It is more dangerous than the other,’
remarked his father, rather hastily.

‘Why, is there a larger waterfall?’ asked
Maurice, surprised.

‘Never mind,’ said his father; ‘you will
understand better when you are older.’

‘Just what mama said about the red Jar,’
thought Maurice. ‘I wonder how much older
I must be?’ but he did not venture to ask more,
and his mother changed the conversation by
asking if he meant to go and practise shooting



14 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



at Dickwald that morning since he had a
holiday ?

‘It will be no good going this morning,’
answered Maurice, who was now eating his
breakfast, ‘for the other boys cannot get away
from school or work till the evening ; perhaps
I shall have a practice by myself some time
to-day, but I must have a row in my new boat
first. Won't you come, mama? I will row you
up to the place where the forget-me-nots grow.’

‘Very well, answered his mother, ‘I will
come as soon as I have seen the housekeeper.’

Maurice and his mother had a very pleasant
row that morning, and then Maurice practised
at his target till dinner-time. After dinner
there still remained two or three hours to be
filled up before teatime, as he had settled to go
to Dickwald with Herr Karl after tea. But the
boat was still a novelty, and Maurice was only
toe pleased to go in it again by himself, since
every one else was busy. For some little time
he rowed up and down in front of the house,
chasing the swans, and trying how quickly he
could turn the boat. Then he pushed close up
to the bank to gather some more forget-me-nots,
and very nearly contrived to lose an oar in his



IL THE BIRTHDAY 15



attempt, not to speak of alarming a moor hen
and her brood. The forget-me-nots were in full
beauty, and Maurice thought he would try and
gather enough for a garland to twist round his
flag-staff. He rowed to another tuft a little
further along the bank, then to another and yet
another, always seeing some which appeared
brighter and more beautiful just a little beyond.

Near the bend of the river, which was the
forbidden boundary, on the upper or Helmer
side, grew a beautiful willow tree whose boughs
hung down and touched the clear waters be-
neath. Under this tree Maurice stayed his little
boat, drew in the oars, and leant back in the stern
to rest for a few minutes in the pleasant shade
and arrange his supply of forget-me-nots.

‘I wonder whether I have enough,’ thought
he, ‘to twist all round the pole. I wish I had
some string with me, for then I could tie them
together and see. One always has string when
one doesn’t want it, and never if one does. I'll
put the little bunches in a row along the bottom
of the boat and guess. There, that looks as if
there would be enough ; but no, they will have
to be twisted as they go round the pole, and that
will take more than a straight line. I must get



16 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



some more. We must row down to Dickwald
this evening, and the boys will be surprised when
we come with such a smart boat. Oh dear,
what lovely forget-me-nots near those rushes!
Are they beyond the bend of the river? Oh
no, they are exactly on the edge of the turn. I
can reach them without going round.’

Just too near Maurice! He picked the
flowers exactly on the edge, and of course there
were some still more beautiful only just round
the corner. ‘It cannot matter my just going to
fetch those—one stroke of the oars will do it,
and then I will turn back at once.’ One stroke
of the oars brought him very near the flowers,
but not quite; another took him into a clump
of reeds in which he could steady the boat
nicely while he stood up to gather these super-
lative blossoms. While he was doing so a
curious thing happened. He thought that he
had drawn his oars far enough into the boat to
make them quite safe, but something made a
sudden grab at one of them, and dragged it into
the water. What the something was Maurice,
who had his back turned, could not see. Could
a large fish have mistaken his oar for a gigantic
fly? No time to think, for he must recover it



ist THE BIRTHDAY 17



before it floated too far off. Still more oddly it
seemed to be floating up stream against the
current. He pushed away from the bank in
the direction of the lost oar, and had stretched
out his hand to seize it when it made a jerk as
if it were alive, and twisted itself out of his
reach. He paddled as well as he could with the
remaining one, and again thought he could catch
the troublesome paddle, when—no ; this time it
turned a regular somersault into the air, and fell
back into the water a few yards away! Maurice
felt very much inclined to cry, despite his eleven
years. What was he to do? How could he
catch an oar which seemed to be enchanted, or
alive, or something? Of course this had hap-
pened because he had trespassed on forbidden
waters. Should he try and get back with the
one oar which was left? Could he?

As these thoughts passed quickly through
his mind, something bright flashed in the water,
raised itself for a minute into the air, and then
disappeared again with agreat splash. ‘Perhaps,’
thought Maurice, ‘that is the big fish which is
playing with my oar. If the nasty thing would
only get out of the way, the current would
float it to me. J will wait and see.’ Another

c



18 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHaP.



splash, and a white hand appeared, took the oar
and pushed it still further off; and then to
Maurice’s amazement, a laughing boy’s face
suddenly arose from the stream and said:
‘Halloo young one! what’s the matter? Why
do you look so grave this fine afternoon? Can
I help you?’

‘Oh, please give me my oar,’ said Maurice ;
‘and why are you not drowned?’

‘Why should I be drowned?’ said the boy ;
‘don’t you see I can swim?’

‘Yes, but you have been all this time under
the water ; at least I have been here a long time
and have only just seen you.’

‘You should use your eyes to better purpose,
youngster; perhaps you have not seen my
brother, but I hope he’s not drowned in
consequence.’

‘Your brother? No,’ returned Maurice,
‘but won't you give me my oar?’

‘Never mind your oar; my brother and I
will push your boat along for you without
giving you the trouble of using that clumsy old
thing.’

The new-comer gave a shrill whistle, and a
second boy, exactly like the first, rose even more



II THE BIRTHDAY 19



suddenly from the depths of the river and said:
‘What’s up?’

‘Why, here’s a visitor who wants to tire
himself by rowing. We are much too polite to
let him exert himself in that way, are we not?
Here, you take that side of the prow, and I’ll
take this, and he shall skim along like a flying-
fish.’

‘All right,’ said number two; and before
Maurice could get in a word, the boys had hold
of his boat and were darting up-stream with it.

‘Stop, stop,’ cried Maurice, ‘you're taking
me the wrong way. I want to go home.’

‘So do we want to go home, and we're going,’
returned the second boy.

‘Oh, but I must get back to the castle for
tea,’ exclaimed Maurice.

‘Exactly,’ said number one; ‘ you want your
tea, and we’re going to give you the best tea
you ever had in your life.’

‘No, really, indeed,’ implored Maurice, ‘ you
must let me go. 1 was told not to come beyond
the bend of the river and I didn’t mean to—I
only meant to come a tiny little bit of the way
just to get those forget-me-nots ; and if you make
me late I shall be scolded, and most likely they



20 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



won't let me go and shoot—and it’s my birth-
day,’ added the poor boy, nearly crying.

‘Nonsense,’ began the second boy, but the
first stopped him by saying something in a low
voice, of which Maurice only caught the words,
‘told us—coax him,’ and then number one
added aloud and in a very friendly tone, ‘ Look
here, youngster, we have taken a great fancy to
you. My brother and I seldom see other boys,
and we are exceedingly anxious to have you to
play with, and we can only let you go home
now on two conditions

‘What?’ said Maurice, eagerly.

‘Oh, very simple ones—only that you say
nothing about having met us, and that you
promise faithfully to come and see us again.’

‘I don’t mind promising not to say that I
have seen you,’ answered Maurice, hesitating ;
‘but I cannot promise to come here again, be-
cause I am not allowed to come beyond the
bend, asI told you before. Cannot you come to
see me at the castle, or come to Dickwald to
shoot with all the other boys?’

‘We are not allowed to go beyond our side
of the bend either,’ returned number two; ‘and
as for shooting—if you'll come home with us





I THE BIRTHDAY 21



you shall see such shooting as you never saw
before.’

‘Well, look here,’ said Maurice, who was
too anxious to get away to consider whether
what he was promising was either right or wise,
‘if you'll let me go, and give me my oar
now, I'll promise to come and meet you at the
bend, and we can talk together each from his
own side.’

‘Very well,’ said his first acquaintance, ‘ but
you must say when you'll come.’

‘ Next Saturday afternoon,’ answered Maurice,
‘when I have a half-holiday.’

‘Quite early?’ said number two.

‘ Yes, as soon as I can after dinner.’

‘And you promise to tell no one about us?’

“No one.’

‘Honour bright?’ cried both boys together.

‘Honour bright,’ returned Maurice.

The two boys appeared to be satisfied, and
repeated that Maurice had no idea what he was
missing by not coming to their tea and shooting,
but that they hoped to see him at their home
before long. They then turned the boat and
swam rapidly back, guiding it on either side till
they were exactly opposite the fatal bend of the



22 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP. II



river. Here they restored him his oar, and
shouting, ‘ Good-bye! remember Saturday,’ dived
beneath the waters, disappearing as suddenly as
they had appeared. Maurice watched for a
minute or two to see whether they would come
to the surface further off; perceiving no signs
of them, he rowed quickly home, feeling very
anxious and perplexed.

He went to Dickwald after tea with his
tutor, but the knowledge that he had done
wrong, and the fear of what would happen on
the following Saturday, made him uneasy, and he
did not shoot so well as usual. Herr Karl
noticed that he was rather dull; he fancied that
he had been over-excited and was tired by
rowing all that hot afternoon, so he merely
advised him to go to bed quickly after their
return. ‘Thus ended the eventful birthday.



CHAPTER III

THE BEND OF THE RIVER

THurspay—Friday—two whole days to think
the matter over, and then would come Satur-
day, when Maurice must meet the strange boys
again.

What was to be done? If he had not
promised he might have consulted his mother
or Herr Karl; as it was he could only turn the
matter over in his own little curly head, and
that little head was hardly large enough to hold
such a difficulty and lessons as well. Even the
all-important question of the archery match
was almost cast into the shade by the more
immediate perplexity as to how he was to end
his acquaintance with two boys who insisted upon
knowing him, and yet might not or would not
visit him, while they seem determined to entice



.

24 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



him into forbidden waters. Of course he could
simply shout out to them, ‘Here I am; I have
kept my promise by coming; and now good-
bye,’—and then quickly row away again,—but
at the bottom of his heart Maurice knew that
he would find it very hard to do this. The
truth was, as perhaps you have discovered, that
Maurice, though an active good-tempered little
boy, was rather curious and not perfectly
obedient. Lessons were less well done than
usual, and Herr Karl was much disposed to
threaten that Maurice should not go to the even-
ing practice at Dickwald. Only then Herr Karl
was almost as anxious for Maurice’s success as
Maurice himself, so he contented himself with a
deduction of marks, which would decidedly lessen
Maurice’s weekly pocket-money, and set out
with his pupil for the village. They walked a
little way in silence, and then Maurice said :

‘Herr Karl, did anybody ever ask you to
promise something which wasn’t a thing that
you liked, and then when you had to do the
thing you didn’t know whether you had better
do it or not?’

‘Why, Maurice, if I did not want to do the
thing I should not promise to do it.’



IL THE BEND OF THE RIVER 25



‘No, but Herr Karl, if the other person
wanted you to do a nastier thing, and would
not let you not do it unless you promised to
do the other thing? ’

‘Your things are rather confusing,’ replied
his tutor smiling. ‘Has anybody been making
you promise to do something disagreeable?’

‘I don’t know,’ replied Maurice, hastily, ‘ but
do you think people ought always to keep
promises, and not to tell things if they say they
won't?’

Herr Karl paused for a moment, wondering
whether it were his duty to try and find out to
what Maurice was referring. Supposing, how-
ever, that one of the Dickwald boys had got
into some trifling scrape, and that it would not
be quite fair to press Maurice on the subject,
he answered :

‘Certainly, if you have promised to keep
another person’s secret, as a general rule you
have no right to betray it. On the other hand,
if you have promised to do anything actually
wrong you had no right to give such a promise,
and therefore have no right to keep it. Iam
afraid I cannot say more unless you can give
me further particulars—I mean if you are asking



260 - MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



my advice with regard to something which has
really happened and not in an imaginary case.’

Maurice was silent, and presently began
talking about the shooting, a topic which lasted
till they reached the village. When he returned
home he was too sleepy and tired to reflect much
more on his promises. Next day, however, he
thought over his tutor’s words, and came to the
conclusion that he should not be doing anything
‘actually wrong’ in rowing to the bend of the
river; and that he should be thereby at once
keeping his promise and gratifying his curiosity
about his mysterious companions of Wednesday
afternoon. I fear he did not sufficiently con-
sider that he had already done wrong on that
occasion, and that it would be necessary to be
very much on his guard, lest he should be once
more enticed into a similar fault.

Saturday was a brilliant day, and when
Maurice’s morning lessons were over his tutor
asked whether he would like to: have a ride in
the afternoon, as his parents had an engagement
in the neighbouring town and would not be able
to take him out, as they often did on _half-
holidays.

‘No, thank you,’ said Maurice; ‘I want to



qr THE BEND OF THE RIVER 27



row myself again in.my new boat. You see the
shooting takes up all the evenings, so I have not
much time for rowing.’

Herr Karl was not at all surprised at this
choice, and only said when he saw him run
down the garden after dinner to the little boat-
house near the steps, ‘Take care not to fall
into the water.’

Falling into the water was not the worst
danger which Maurice had to dread on this
occasion! Very quickly and rather nervously
he rowed towards the meeting-place. He was
yet some yards off when he heard a gay halloo!
and saw both boys swimming and splashing about
like young porpoises. They wore no clothes
unless garlands of a kind of long green grass or
seaweed could be dignified by that name, and
with their bright yellow hair and large deep
blue eyes they were certainly very lovely boys.
They were exactly alike, and appeared to be
about his own age.

‘Here I am,’ said Maurice, ‘and now I have
kept my promise, I shall just say good afternoon,
and go back again.’

‘Oh, nonsense,’ cried one of the brothers,
‘you promised to come and talk to us. I



28 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



don’t call shouting those few words talking
to us.’

‘Besides, where’s the harm of stopping ?’
added the other. ‘You were only forbidden to
pass the bend ; you weren’t told to shut your eyes
and hold your tongue when you got near it.’

‘No,’ said Maurice, foolishly hesitating, ‘ but
since you made me promise to say nothing about
you, I suppose you—you--—’

‘We were the forbidden companions do you
mean? hat’s very rude of you,’ laughed the
brother who had spoken first.

‘Do we look so very wicked?’ chimed in the
other, catching hold of number one, throwing
him down in the water and rolling over him.

It did look delightful to frolic so gaily
in the cool stream, and Maurice could not
help exclaiming, ‘I wish I could swim like
you!’

‘Do you? come with us then and we'll
teach you,’ cried the boys.

‘No, no,’ protested Maurice, pushing back a
stroke or two. Why did he not go away? He
had kept his promise, and the sooner he hurried
out of temptation the better it would have been
for him.



ny

@
(fp-&,
i

Sy,

SEQ
q
be

(is
“

a

5 ES
i ros SS
i

A

(SSE

< yp

i

YRS

SSSR



‘Do we look so very wicked?’

Fao
=

DE

D

SAA IN
=F)

Si

SS

—
RR

Py
'

To face p. 28.



11 THE BEND OF THE RIVER 29



‘You have not told us your name?” said
one.

‘No, let’s have a proper introduction,’ added
the other.

‘My name is Maurice yon Brinkman. What
are yours?’

‘Iam Kelpie.’

‘And I am Nix.’

‘What funny names— only Kelpie and
Nix?’

‘Ah, the rest of our name is a secret.’ We
keep it at home,’ said Kelpie, laughing again.

‘With the tea and the bows and arrows—
such bows and such arrows!’ shouted Nix,
jumping right up into the air, and disappearing
again into the river.

‘How can I know you apart? Which is
Kelpie and which is Nix?’

‘I have a little blue mark on my wrist,’
returned Kelpie ; ‘and Nix has a little red one.
Can’t you see?’ added he, holding up his hand
for a second.

‘No, you’re too far off, and you put it down
again so quickly.’

‘Come a little nearer, then.’

Maurice rowed quite up to the bend, though



30 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



not round it; the two boys came up and showed
him the marks.

‘Are you fond of fishing?’ inquired Nix.

‘Pretty well, but the fish in this river are so
small.’

‘There are bigger ones up our way—oh, look,
there’s a whopper !’

‘Where? where?’ cried the eager Maurice.

‘There—come a bit this way—don’t you
see?’

Forgetting his resolutions Maurice quickly
turned the fatal corner, and caught a glimpse of
something dashing up the river.

‘Follow quick, quick,’ cried both boys. ‘It’s
the most extraordinary fish I ever saw,’ asserted
Kelpie ; and both swam after it as if their lives
depended on the chase, followed alas! by
Maurice. In a few minutes he became con-
scious of what he had done. Had he even
then turned round and hastened back he might
have escaped, but the foolish boy only stopped
and called out :

‘I must not go any further. Good-bye
Kelpie, good-bye Nix.’

‘Not a bit of it,’ returned Kelpie, turning at
once, and coming up to the left of the boat he



IIL THE BEND OF THE RIVER 31



seized it as he had done before, whisking one
oar out of Maurice’s hand, while his brother
caught hold of the other and took the right
side of the boat.

‘No,’ said Nix; ‘you see if there was any
harm in crossing the boundary, you’ve done it
already, so your coming on won’t make an
atom of difference. Besides, you can’t help
yourself now, you’re not rowing the boat; we
are pulling it, so it’s not your fault.’

‘Of course not,’ added Kelpie, ‘and you're
coming to see our grandfather.’

‘Herr Karl will expect me back at tea-time,’
declared Maurice; ‘if I am not there he’ll
want to know the reason, and I must tell him
all about it.’

‘What’s your tea-time ?

‘Five o’clock.’

‘Well, it’s not three yet. We'll take care
that you’re back in time, and not a soul will be
the wiser.’

Maurice, though a good deal frightened, was
still curious, so he began to persuade himself
that all this was really not his fault—anyhow
not altogether—that since he had broken the
rule a little more or a little less disobedience



32 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



made no difference, and that he had better enjoy
himself while he could.

This part of the river was very pretty, more
picturesque than the part near the castle, and it
struck him that he had never seen it even from
the banks, for high rocks began to rise on either
side, and these were crowned with thick pine-
forests, which formed a barrier between the
sheltered waters and the surrounding country.
Near the castle, on the contrary, low grassy
meadows sloped to the water’s edge, and rich
cornfields lay beyond.

The boys swam much quicker than Maurice
could row ; trees and rocks seemed to fly past
the boat, and he soon found himself passing
between cliffs, black and overhanging, which
almost shut out the daylight.

‘Where are we going?’ asked he, in an awe-
struck voice.

‘It’s all right; we're nearly there,’ replied
Kelpie ; ‘look, there’s the landing-place.’

He pointed to a shelf of rock projecting
from the foot of one of the highest cliffs on
their right hand. Just beyond this platform
the cliffs closed in before them, forming a
high, bare wall broken by the entrance of



ul THE BEND OF THE RIVER 33



an enormous cavern, from which the river
flowed in a broad dark stream.

‘What do you mean? I don’t want to go
into that black gloomy hole,’ said Maurice,
more and more alarmed.

‘Don’t be frightened, returned Nix, ‘surely
you're not afraid of the dark?’

‘Besides, it will be light again directly,’
added his brother ; and they drew the boat up to
the landing-place, and fastened the chain which
was coiled up in the bow to a queerly-shaped
projecting rock.

‘Now jump out,’ said Kelpie, ‘and come and
see our grandfather.’

‘Your grandfather!’ replied the astonished
Maurice, slowly preparing to obey, ‘ Where does
he live?’

‘In there,’ said Kelpie.

Maurice now saw that a very narrow passage
led from the landing-place right into the great
rock out of which the river flowed, and ran
alongside of the stream within the cavern.



CHAPTER IV
THE CAVERN

Ir was all very well for Nix to say, ‘You're not
afraid of the dark.’ Maurice was as brave as
most boys, and did not mind dark passages or
dark rooms. If his father or mother had been
with him he would have gone into any cavern
without a thought of fear, or if he had been for
a picnic with the Dickwald boys he would have
been the first to undertake an exploring ex-
pedition. It was a different matter altogether to
enter a cavern in a place which he had been
forbidden to approach with companions who
had insisted on his keeping their existence a
secret. Maurice was quite old and sensible
enough to know that there was something wrong
and probably dangerous about the whole pro-
ceeding, and under such circumstances an



CHAP. IV THE CAVERN 35





invitation to enter a dark hole was not likely to
raise his spirits. Nevertheless, it was now too
late to draw back; the only thing was to get his
visit over as quickly as possible, and to keep for
the future to his own part of the river. Kelpie
led the way, bidding Maurice follow him closely
step by step and take care not to slip, while Nix
brought up the rear. With a beating heart the
little boy followed his guide, whose white limbs
were easily seen in the dim passage. For two
or three minutes they walked past the silently
flowing water, whose mysterious depths appeared
to hold secrets never suspected by those who had
only seen it sparkling under the gay sunlight in
front of the castle. Then a shaft of greenish
_ light darted down from somewhere above, and
Maurice saw that they were at the foot of a
flight of stone steps rudely cut in the rock.

‘Come along,’ said Kelpie ; ‘ we shall have no
more dark now.’

Nix laughed, and both boys seemed as if
they would have liked to have chaffed Maurice,
but for some reason did not quite venture to do
so. They climbed about twenty steps, the light
growing more vivid as they: advanced, though
whence it came Maurice could not make out.



36 MAURICE : OR, THE RED JAR CHapP.



Then they turned to the left and ascended a
sloping passage of smooth white sand, with
brightly shining walls apparently covered with
phosphoric jelly-fish.

At the end of the passage was a curtain
of reeds and bulrushes. Kelpie pushed this
aside, and all three boys entered an immensely
long low hall, with a rugged rounded roof, and
lighted by means of its shining walls in the same
way as the passage. There was not much furni-
ture in the hall. The only carpets were some
rugs made of the skins of water-rats or voles,
and there were a large rough table and several
chairs made from stumps of willows and alders.
Festoons of ferns, bulrushes, and water-lilies
were hung round the walls as decorations, and
quite at the end was a kind of throne made of
rock-work and adorned with shining spar and
shells, on which sat the most extraordinary old
man conceivable.

The most curious thing was that every part
of him kept changing, so that it was next to
impossible to get a clear idea of what he was
really like. He had very long hair, but some-
times it seemed to be hair, sometimes rushes,

and sometimes seaweed, or else it was hair, with |



Iv. THE CAVERN 37



rushes or seaweed, or both, twisted into it
—nobody could have told which. Then
sometimes it was grey, sometimes light blue,
and sometimes pale green. In the same way
his long curly beard floated and shifted, vary-
ing every minute in hue and texture. His
nose was also long and hooked, and he twisted
it about almost as easily as his watery eyes,
which were like little ponds, and changed as
ponds do with every passing light and shade.
Fis mouth was hidden in his beard, but when
he opened it he showed glittering white teeth,
which every now and then seemed to change
into pieces of red coral. As to his dress,
except that it was long and flowing, Maurice
knew as much about it when he left as when
he came into the room. It appeared to have
been made out of a dry waterfall, if you can
imagine such a thing, and to ripple and rise
and fall and change its colour as a waterfall
does.

‘Here he is, grandfather!’ shouted Kelpie
and Nix both together, as they hastened towards
this remarkable being, dragging Maurice between
them.

‘Here is Maurice von Brinkman! We’ve



38 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



brought him home for tea and shooting,’ added
Kelpie.

‘You are welcome, Maurice von Brinkman,’
said the strange old man in a stratige voice, which
sounded as if a waterfall were speaking. ‘I am
glad to see you. I knew your great-grandfather
long ago.’

‘Then you will let Kelpie and Nix come to
see me, and I may tell my father and mother
about them?’ said Maurice, anxiously,

‘ By and by, my little man, by and by. There
are things little boys do not quite understand,
and things not to be spoken about. Now sit
down while Kelpie and Nix get tea ready.’

Kelpie and Nix did not wait to be told
twice. They darted away somewhere behind
the old man’s seat, but whether they went off
through another curtain, or through the solid
rock, or how, or where, the puzzled Maurice
could not make out. Much confused, he did as
the old man told him, and sat down on one of
the wooden chairs, while his host continued to
look at him with his changeful eyes, murmuring :
‘By and by, little man, by and by,’ as if the
words gave him peculiar satisfaction.

Before Maurice could make up his mind to



IV THE CAVERN 39



ask him any of the questions which he would
greatly have liked to have had answered, the
active youngsters returned carrying large baskets.
They proceeded to spread the contents on the
table, and these were as funny as everything else
about the place. It was too soon after dinner
for Maurice to feel hungry, but if he had been
ravenous he might have found it difficult to
think this feast very nice. There were several
kinds of shell-fish of all sorts of colours, and
they had all been stewed in a sort of muddy
sauce. Kelpie and Nix appeared to find this
sauce excellent, and were very anxious to give
Maurice an extra supply over his fish, telling
him that it was made from a particular fungus
which grew only in their cavern, and that he
would never find this delicacy anywhere else.
Maurice tried to conceal the satisfaction which
this statement gave him, and ventured to ask of
what some speckled cakes were made, which they
next pressed on his notice. They told him that
these were made of shells ground very small
mixed with the seeds of bulrushes, and that
the speckles were the wings and legs of small
water-flies. ‘We will give you the recipe if
you like,’ said they, in a fit of generosity.



40 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



‘Thank you so much,’ replied Maurice,
‘but I am afraid our cook is not so clever as
yours, and might spoil the cakes in the baking.’

The so-called tea itself was some green stuff
served in large shells; the unfortunate guest
tried to drink it, but failed utterly, when the
happy thought struck him to say to Nix: ‘Iam
afraid if we spend more time over tea I shall not
be able to stay for your shooting, and I want to
see that so very much.’

‘Right you are,’ exclaimed Nix; ‘though I
am afraid you'll be hungry, you’ve had so little
tea.’

‘Oh, you see I shall be back by our tea-time,
and after all I have only just had dinner.’

The grandfather, who had continued sitting
on his throne, and had paid very little attention
to the tea-party, aroused himself as soon as the
shooting was mentioned, and told the boys to
clear the table out of the way and fetch the bows
and arrows.

They did so with their usual activity, and
stuck up at the end of the hall an odd sort of
target. In the middle, by way of a bull’s eye,
was a small shell; this was surrounded by the
skin of a snail cut into a circle—that by a fish-





Tue YELLow Bow. To face p. 41.

Copyright 1894 by Macmillan & Co.



IV THE CAVERN 41



skin treated in the same way; then came the
skin of an eel ; lastly, strips from a weasel and an
otter respectively, the whole being mounted on
a leather background and propped on a stand
made of the bones of some marine animal un-
known to Maurice. The bows and arrows,
however, were such as he was accustomed to
use, and he brightened up and felt more at home
at the sight of them.

The boys stood at the far end of the hall, and
despite the strange light which puzzled him a
good deal, Maurice shot very well; at the end
of a match with his new acquaintance he came
off second, Kelpie having hit the bull’s eye
twice, he once, and Nix not having got nearer
than the snail-skin.

‘Very good,’ said the grandfather; ‘now
bring the yellow bow.’

Maurice watched eagerly, as after once more
retreating into the unseen background Kelpie
returned with a rather large bow, not peculiar
in fashion, but of a distinctly yellow colour.
The grandfather, who had hitherto contented
himself with watching their sport, now came
forward, took the bow into his hands, strung it,
placed the arrow on the string, and without



42 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



seeming to take any aim whatever let fly and
instantly transfixed the bull’s eye.

‘What a wonderful shot you are,’ exclaimed
Maurice.

‘You think so, do you?’ remarked the old
man. ‘Take this bow, Nix, and see what you
can do.’

Nix grinned, stood in his former place, and
without taking more trouble with his aim than
his grandfather had done was equally successful
at his first attempt with the yellow bow.

The old man, with a grim smile, turned to
Maurice: ‘A wonderful shot or a wonderful
bow? Which? You try with it now?’

Maurice grasped the bow, fitted an arrow,
and, like the other two, hit the centre shell
without the slightest effort. Kelpie then tried
his luck and did the same. ‘The experiment
was repeated two or three times by each of the
four marksmen, and nobody missed when shoot-
ing with the yellow bow.

‘A wonderful bow, I think,’ repeated the old
man. ‘Would you like to have it for your
own, youngster?’

Maurice crimsoned all over. ‘[—J—J——’
he stammered.



IV THE CAVERN a



‘Of course you would. Well, I’ll sell it to
you if you like.’

‘I am afraid I should never have pocket-
money enough ; I lost some this week,’ Maurice
replied, sorrowfully.

‘You don’t suppose I want your money, do
you?’

‘Oh, I beg your pardon, but you said you
would sell it to me.’

‘Is there nothing in your father’s house
except money?’

‘In my father’s house?’ Maurice, much
perplexed, began to think over the chairs, tables,
and pictures at the castle, and to wonder which
of those articles had taken the old man’s fancy.
Perhaps he wanted a stuffed, scarlet ibis, or an
image of a negro holding a lamp, both objects
much admired by the little boy.

‘Yes, there is one thing at the castle,’
resumed the grandfather, ‘which once belonged
to my family, and which I should like to have
again. Though it is not of much value, I would
give you this yellow bow for your very own if
you would bring it to me safe and sound.’

‘ What is it?” asked Maurice, doubtfully.

‘Only a red jar which stands on a shelf in a



44 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



cabinet in an empty room, I believe. It is never
used, and you could easily take it without its
being missed.’

‘I might ask mama for it,’ said Maurice,
with great hesitation ; ‘but I don’t believe she
would give it to me, and I could not steal it.’

‘Steal it! Why, how could it be stealing to
give me back what belonged to my family?’

‘If it belonged to your family, and they did
not give it or sell it to my father,’ replied
Maurice, more boldly, ‘I am sure he would
let me bring it back to you. He would
never keep what does not properly belong
to him.’

‘Nonsense,’ said the old man, impatiently.
‘Little boys, as I said before, don’t understand
everything. Your family and mine did not
always agree, and that’s why your father did not
want you to come up the river, and why I am
not anxious that he should know where you have
been. You may be sure that he would not send
me the jar if you asked him, as he would be
annoyed at your having been here. However, I
don’t want to quarrel—the red jar properly
belongs to me, yet I am quite willing to give a
fair exchange for it,—more than a fair exchange,



1V THE CAVERN 45



for a bow like that would make your fortune—
you could win the prize at every archery meet-
ing in the country. Never mind—take it or
leave it as you please.’

‘If there were anything else,’ began Maurice,
looking longingly at the bow.

‘There’s nothing else,’ growled the grand-
father.

‘And,’ put in Kelpie, ‘if you don’t want to
be late you ought to be going home now.’

‘So I ought,’ said Maurice, starting up.
‘Good-bye sir,’ he added, turning again to the
old man, ‘thank you very much for my pleasant
visit.’

‘Good-bye, young man, and remember what
Isay. ‘The bow is yours if you bring me the
red jar, not otherwise.’

As Maurice left the hall he heard the grand-
father muttering over and over again: ‘By
and by, little man, we shall see by and by.’

Kelpie and Nix unfastened the boat while
Maurice jumped into it, and taking it on either
side as before, they swam even more rapidly
down the stream than they had come up.
While darting along at so rapid a pace they

found breath to relate more marvels concerning



46 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR _ cuap. iv



the famous bow; and as they handed him his
oars, and said good-bye at the place of parting,
they exclaimed : ‘You shall have it and win the
silver horn if you will only bring grandfather
his red jar!”



CHAPTER V
THE RED JAR

‘Tue 14th, to-day, and the meeting is to be
on the sth of August,’ said Rudolf, ‘How
many more days for practice?’

‘Can’t you make that out for yourself?’
laughed Otto.

‘Never do anything for yourself if you can
get some one else to do it for you.’

‘Well, you won’t get any one else to do this
for you,’ chimed in Hans. ‘I want to shoot, not
to do sums ; we’ve enough of them in school.’

‘Where’s the young baron?’ asked Albert.

‘Don’t know,’ said Rudolf; ‘he’s rather
behind time to-day.’

‘He has not been shooting so well as usual
this week,’ remarked Otto ; ‘in fact I think he’s
out of sorts altogether,’



48 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



‘All the more chance for the rest of us,’
rejoined Hans. ‘I wish every one were out of
sorts except myself.’

‘That’s kind of you,’ retorted Albert, « but
we're not, you see; and fortunately, we don’t
depend on you to keep us in spirits, or we
might all go to sleep instead of shooting.’

‘Here’s the young baron,’ exclaimed Rudolf ;
‘now let’s get to practice. Good evening, sir,
we're just going to begin. Will you have first
shot ?’

‘Good evening, Rudolf, thank you; you go
on, you have your arrow all ready,’ said Maurice,
who had just arrived on the scene.

Poor Maurice does not look nearly so happy
this Friday evening as he did when we made his
acquaintance some ten days ago. An uncon-
fessed fault and a secret which should never
have been known are enough to trouble any
little boy, and Herr Karl is greatly puzzled to
account for the change in his merry little pupil.
His father tries in vain to cheer the boy with
all sorts of jokes, and his mother has decided to
consult the family doctor.

‘Now then, sir, it’s your turn,’ cried Rudolf,
who had just lodged an arrow in the white.





Vv THE RED JAR 49



Maurice took his bow and shot, but his arrow
was half an inch further from the centre than
Rudolf’s. Albert followed, and the other boys
each in turn. Rudolf remained ahead. ‘Then
each had a second shot, and Hans and Rudolf
were exactly equal. In the third round Albert
had slightly the advantage, but by the end of
the evening Rudolf had distanced all competitors,
Maurice and Hans tying for second place.

‘You must look up, Maurice,’ said Herr Karl,
as they walked home; ‘ Rudolf has shot distinctly
better than you this evening, and Hans and
Albert are pressing you very hard. Otto is not
far behind either.’

‘I know,’ answered Maurice, ‘but I am
determined to win the silver horn somehow.
You will see when the day comes.’

‘I hope I shall,’ said Herr Karl.

Maurice walked by his side, hardly answering
any further remarks, and turning over in his
little head the perpetual question, Would there
be much harm in taking the red jar? It is
strange that it did not strike him that, even if
he could have gained the yellow bow without
wrong-doing, it would have been decidedly
unfair to have used it to win a prize from boys

E



50 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



who were only shooting with ordinary bows.
No, Maurice did not think of that. He did,
however, know and think that he could not
touch, much less take, the jar without disobeying
the very clear orders which his mother had given
him. She had told him that he was never even
to go alone into the room where it stood, nor to
mention it to any one.

Yet the old man had declared that he had a
right to the jar. If so, would Maurice do so
very wrong in taking it back to him? And
then he would receive the bow, that beautiful
bow. How pleased his father and mother
would be when he hit the bull’s eye every time
and won the silver horn.

Maurice went to bed, but not to sleep ; his
mind was too full of these thoughts. At last
he sat up in bed and listened. ‘Yes, that was
his mother coming upstairs. She was sure to
come into his room as she passed it on her way
to her own. He popped down again, shut his
eyes, and pretended to be asleep. The Baroness
came in and bent over him. She did not kiss
him for fear of disturbing him, but she smoothed
his clothes, lingered for a minute or two, and
then went to her own rooms. Now the Baroness



v THE RED JAR 5



slept in a large bedroom, but as she was not
accustomed to ring for her maid at bedtime, she
generally left the gown she had worn during the
day in her dressing-room for the woman to fetch
in the morning. Maurice knew this, as he had
often seen the gown when he passed through the
dressing-room to go and give his mother a kiss
before she was up.

‘I wonder,’ he thought to himself, ‘ whether
mama leaves her keys in her pocket when she
takes off her gown? I expect she does some-
times. I am pretty sure that I have seen Elsie
bring them in when she comes to do mama’s
hair. Now let me think, there is a key on the
bunch which opens her desk, and a key in the
desk which opens the little drawer, and two keys
in the drawer, the big key which opens the door
of the room, and the little key which opens the
cabinet. How well I remember it all! I think
that’s rather clever of me. I’m sure mama need
not have expected me to wait till I was older
to know about the red jar. And the old man
was just as bad ; he said there were things little
boys did not quite understand. Of course they
don’t understand if grown-up people won’t tell
them what the things are. How stupid grown-



52 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP



up people are! When I am a man, I shall tell
my little boy everything, and I am quite certain
he will understand. I should like anyhow to go
and look at that red jar. If I had it in my
own hands, I daresay I could find out what there
is O precious and curious about it. If it really
belongs to the old man, perhaps his name is
written on it. I might go and see.’

Maurice lay still a little longer considering ;
then he began again arguing with himself. wonder if mama’s asleep by this time? There
could be no possible harm in going to look at
the jar. When mama told me not to go into
the room she never expected that I should hear
about the jar from any one else. Now, it is very
important that I should see it and examine it
properly. I must have a peep.’

Maurice got up and put on his dressing-
gown and slippers. He lit the hand-candle
which was on a little table near his bed, crept
quietly out of his own room and up to the
dressing-room door. There he paused, and
waited to hear if his mother were moving about,
and to see if any light shone through the chink
under the door. No, all was quiet and dark.
Very, very, softly he pushed the door open and



Vv THE RED JAR 53

peeped to see if there were any light under the
door between the dressing-room and bedroom.
No, not a glimmer.

Still, he thought his mother might not be
asleep, so he kicked off his slippers and left his
candle in the doorway while he advanced into
the room like a cat, or a thief. What a pity
that his father did not come up and catch him!
Unfortunately, the Baron was a very studious
man, and liked to sit reading in the library long
after the rest of the household had gone to bed,
while Herr Karl’s room was in another wing of
the castle. So that naughty Maurice, undis-
turbed by any older and wiser person, slipped
his hand into his mother’s pocket, pulled out her
keys, tried them till he found the one which
fitted the desk, took from it the key of the
drawer, unlocked that, and extracted the two
precious keys, that of the room-door, and that
of the cabinet! Possessed of these he regained
his slippers and candle and scurried down the
passage like a frightened rabbit till he reached
the door which he had only once before seen
opened. Here he paused. His heart was beat-
ing fast. Should he venture, or should he not?
‘Well,’ he thought, ‘since I have come so far I



54 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



will anyhow look at the jar, even if I don’t open
the cabinet.’

The lock of the door, being seldom used,
was a trifle rusty, and the key did not turn
easily and creaked. Unluckily—luckily, as
Maurice thought—there was no one near to
hear. With an effort he opened the door
and saw the cabinet in front of him. The
shutters in this room were not closed, and the
bright moonlight was streaming in, causing
cold ghost-like shadows to fall upon the floor.
Maurice fairly trembled. He was a brave
boy all the same, but on this occasion he did
not turn his bravery to good account. He was
determined now that he would examine the jar,
and forgot that the bravest thing would have
been to have resisted his own naughty wishes.

‘I must make haste before any one comes.’
‘Here goes,’ said he to himself, and walked
straight up to the cabinet. He found that the
lock of the upper part, protected, as before
said, with brass lattice-work, was above his
reach. He therefore placed his candle, now
dimmed by the moonlight, on one of the chairs,
and pulled the other up in front of the cabinet
so that he could stand upon it. Climbing up



v THE RED JAR 55

he placed the little key in the lock, turned it,
opened the latticed doors and took the jar into
his hands. It was about ten inches high, with a
small handle on either side, and seemed to be
made of dark red clay, baked, and polished very
smooth. Some kind of design or pattern was
moulded upon it, and Maurice got down from
the chair and went to the window to examine
this more closely. The design ran nearly all
round the jar ; it was not very distinct, but as far
as Maurice could make it out it represented a
river with trees, a waterfall, and an old man
seated at the foot of the waterfall.

‘Tt is rather like the boys’ grandfather,’ said
Maurice to himself, ‘only he seems to have
chains on his hands. Perhaps it is his likeness ;
if so, perhaps the jar does properly belong to his
family. . Well, I think I will take it back to my
room and look at it by daylight.’

Maurice placed the jar near the candle, jumped
on to the chair again, relocked the lattice, and
left the room carrying both the candle and the
jar. He placed them on the passage floor whilst
he fastened the door, and hurrying back to his
mother’s room restored the keys to the drawer,
the drawer key to the desk, relocked that with



56 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



the key on the bunch, and replaced the bunch in
his mother’s pocket.

Having regained his own room he hid the
red jar in a locker forming the window-seat
which contained his own particular treasures,
and with which no one else ever interfered.
Then jumping into bed and blowing out the
candle he quickly fell asleep, body and mind
being quite tired out.

Need I say that next afternoon saw Maurice
alone in the boat with the red jar hidden under
the seat in the stern? ‘The thought of the bow
had been quite too much for him now that he
had in his possession the price which the old
man had asked for it. His great anxiety was
_to know whether he should find Kelpie and Nix
at the usual corner, for he did not feel courageous
enough to row up to the cavern between those
dark rocks without them.

He need not have doubted. Those young
gentlemen had not forgotten that Saturday was
Maurice’s half-holiday, and were already on the
look-out for their comrade of the week before.
They saluted him with the usual ‘ Halloo!’ and
eagerly added :

‘Have you brought the jar?’



v THE RED JAR 57



>

‘Yes, but I don’t know if I ought

His hesitating words were interrupted with a
loud ‘Hurrah!’ from both boys, followed by
exclamations of, ‘ Be quick—let us see it. Well
done, how jolly of you!’

No sooner had Maurice rounded the corner
than they rushed to the side of his boat and leant
over to inspect the desired treasure.

‘That’s it,’ cried Kelpie—‘ first-rate. Now
come along to grandfather.’

They skimmed along with the boat as before,
fastened it once more to the landing-place, and
hurried Maurice through the dark passage and
up the stairs into the presence of their grand-
father.

‘Here he is, and he has brought the jar!
cried both at once. ‘See if it is the right one,’
cried Kelpie ; ‘and give him the bow if it is,”
added Nix.

The old man seemed to shift and change
more than ever, and his eyes glittered like
phosphorus in a tropical sea as he bent forward
and took the jar from Maurice’s hand.

‘It is the jar, the red jar!’ he exclaimed,
‘Bring the yellow bow here.’

Kelpie hastened to fetch it, and his grand-





58 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



father placed it in Maurice’s hand. The little
boy forgot for the instant all the faults which he
had committed to gain it, and all the trouble and
anxiety which had weighed on his mind during
the past week. He only thought with triumph
that now he should certainly be victor in the
archery match, that the silver horn would
assuredly be his own, and that all the spectators
would applaud him.

‘ By and by, little man, by and by,’ said the
old man all at once with a grim smile, as if he
read his thoughts.

‘Yes, grandfather,’ said Nix, suddenly starting
and catching hold of Maurice’s hand, ‘by and
by, not now: you promised to give us time to
get down the river.’

‘You will, won’t you, grandfather?’ cried
Kelpie, anxiously, seizing Maurice’s other hand,
in which he held the precious bow.

‘Very well, make haste then; I have waited
long enough already,’ growled the old man.

Kelpie and Nix, far from pressing Maurice
to stay this time, dragged him from the hall and
out of the cavern without allowing him time to
say good-bye, and without attending to his
questions as to the reason of their haste. More



v THE RED JAR 59



quickly than ever they swam with his boat to
the bend, and darted away shouting :

‘Take care! go home quickly! we’re sorry ;
but we had to do as he told us. Good-bye!
good-bye !



CHAPTER VI
THE BROKEN SPELL

‘Wuere is Maurice?’ asked Baroness von
Brinkman, coming into the schoolroom at the
castle about the same time that Maurice was
handing over the jar to the old man in the
cavern.

‘He has gone out in his boat,’ replied
Herr Karl, rising and laying down the book
which he was reading.

‘Oh, I am sorry,’ said the Baroness, ‘I meant
to have taken him for a drive.’

‘Perhaps he has not gone far,’ said Herr
Karl. ‘He often rows about just in front. Shall
I go and look?’

‘It would be very kind of you,’ answered the
Baroness. ‘I will go and put on my hat, and the
Baron and I will join you in the garden.’



CHAP, VI THE BROKEN SPELL 61



So saying, she left the room, and Herr Karl
went down to the steps at the bottom of the
garden to look if he could see anything of the
little boy.

‘How high the river is,’ he thought, as he
stood gazing vainly up and down the stream.
‘It is strange, for there has been scarcely any
rain lately. Look, Baron,’ he added, as the lady
and gentleman approached him, ‘is not the river
curiously high? I believe the water has risen
even since I have been standing here.’

‘ And see,’ said the Baroness—‘ Is that Maurice
in his boat rowing towards us? Why, the boat
seems to be swept along as if he could hardly
guide it.’

‘It is indeed,’ cried the Baron, ‘and the water
is rapidly rising. Mina,’ he added suddenly, ‘is
the talisman safe?’

‘T believe so,’ replied the Baroness, nervously.

‘Something has happened,’ returned her
husband. ‘Herr Karl, do not lose a moment.
Get the Baroness into the large boat, row off and
catch Maurice, and, if you are able to steady
yourself in the stream till I return, do so ; if not,
guide the boat as well as you can down te
Dickwald and take refuge there.’



62 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Herr Karl was beginning to speak, but the
Baron gave him no time to answer. He ran
with all speed into the castle, shouted to the
servants to save themselves as best they could
from the rising flood, and, rushing to the tall
centre tower, he tolled the alarm bell with all his
might and main. The inhabitants of the neigh-
bouring villages, warned by the sound, came
running to the castle, and the Baron shouted to
those who were foremost : ‘The river is rising
fast and will soon flood the whole property. Let
every one tell his neighbours and get to the boats
as quickly as possible. ‘There is not a moment
to lose.’

Having said this, the Baron caught up a desk
which contained some money and valuable
papers and dashed back into the garden, which
was already half under water. To his great
relief he saw that Herr Karl, who was a very
strong man, had managed to reach Maurice and
pull him into the big boat. The little boat had
been already whirled away out of sight, and was
probably dashed to pieces very speedily by the
waterfall below Dickwald. The yellow bow
had gone with it, for when the current began
to flow violently, which it did just after Kelpie



VI THE BROKEN SPELL 63



and Nix left Maurice, it was all that he could
do to clutch his oars and endeavour to guide the
boat in its wild course down the stream. His
strength was nearly exhausted when Herr Karl
came up and rescued him.

It was now no easy matter to get the boat
near to the steps to save the Baron also. Of
course he had to wade up to his waist in water,
and he was nearly swept away twice while stand-
ing on the lowest of the three steps, while Herr
Karl was struggling to steady the boat in the
water, which was now whirling and dashing about
like an arm of the sea in a storm.

Herr Karl asked the Baroness to hold the
boat-hook out to her husband, and bade Maurice
sit perfectly still till the Baron caught the hook
and pulled the boat near enough to enable him
to jump in. Just as he had done so, Bridget,
Maurice’s nurse, came running through the
water, and with great efforts they contrived to
drag her in also.

They were then obliged to let the boat go,
and guided it with the utmost difficulty towards
Dickwald.

The whole river was by this time full of
boats, sheep, cows, and floating pieces of furni-



64 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.

ture. Fortunately, most of the villages on the
Baron’s property were tolerably near the banks
of the river, so that a great many of the farmers
and cottagers kept boats, and were able to save
themselves and their neighbours in this sudden
deluge.

The curious thing was that the water only
overflowed on one side and turned all its fury
on to the Baron’s estate, leaving the fields and
meadows on the opposite shore high and dry.
It positively beat down the ground on the side
which it attacked, sweeping away the crops, the
houses, and the very earth itself. The castle
offered most resistance, being strongly built, and
standing on solid rock; but all was in vain.
The water rose in fierce waves against the walls,
poured into unsuspected crevices in the rock, as
if some vicious spirit were directing its labours,
and before next morning the whole building was
levelled with the ground. Pictures, china, furni-
ture, all Maurice’s books and toys, everything
was swept away. Some of the things floated
down and were caught at Dickwald and other
villages, but most were completely lost.

The large boat containing the Baron and his
companions was stopped at Dickwald, which



VI THE BROKEN SPELL 65



stood on the unflooded bank, and where all the
inhabitants were soon on the alert to save the
fugitives from being swept over the dangerous
waterfall below. Rudolf’s father and mother,
who were respectable tradespeople and had a
nice large house, begged the party to take refuge
with them for the night, which they were very
glad to do.

They were exceedingly anxious about the
fate of the remaining servants and villagers, and
were relieved to find them rapidly arriving in
the other boats belonging to the castle and to
the neighbours. The Baron and Herr Karl
stayed by the bridge which crossed the river
opposite Dickwald to help to stop the boats and
bring the people safely to land. Messengers
were sent for news to the villages further down,
and brought back word that as far as could be
made out all the inhabitants of the flooded dis-
trict were saved, though the bulk of their
possessions was lost.

By nightfall the violent rush of water had
ceased, and as the bright moon rose it was
evident that the whole of the Baron’s property
was one large unbroken lake. Not a house,

not a tree was to be seen as far as the eye could
F



66 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



reach ; only in the dim distance Maurice fancied
that he could distinguish the pine-topped rocks
which rose above the fatal cavern.

Several men having volunteered to remain on
watch all night in case of further alarm or need
for help, the Baron and Herr Karl wearily re-
entered the house, followed by Maurice, who
had remained with his father, though the latter
had been too busy to attend to him.

‘ Where is the Baroness, Frau Wetter?’ asked
the gentleman of his kind hostess.

‘The gracious lady is resting in the parlour,’
answered the good woman. ‘She was so sad
and weary that we saw she would rather be
alone, and we left her till your honour came in.’

‘Thank you very much, Frau Wetter ; I am
afraid we are giving you a great deal of trouble.’

‘Don’t mention it, Herr Baron. I only hope
this terrible flood will abate as quickly as it
arose and leave your beautiful estates even better
and richer than they were before.’

The Baron shook his head sadly. He knew
that there was no prospect of anything of the
sort, and once more thanking Frau Wetter he,
together with Herr Karl and Maurice, went
into the room which she pointed out.



VI THE BROKEN SPELL 67



‘Everybody is saved, I firmly believe,’ said
he, hastening to reassure his pale and anxious
wife.

‘That is indeed a mercy! Yet all these
poor people will be ruined, not to speak of our-
selves. What can have caused this dreadful
disaster ?’

‘What, indeed! You believe the red jar
was safe?’

Maurice started. What could that have had
to do with the matter?

“It was quite safe a day or two ago,’ replied
the lady. ‘I saw the keys of the room and of
the cabinet only this morning, and no one could
have got at them without stealing the bunch,
which is still in my pocket,’ she added, touch-
ing tt.

‘No one knew anything about either the
keys or the jar, did they?’ continued the Baron.

‘No one at all—yes!’ she exclaimed, recol-
lecting, ‘Maurice followed me without my
noticing him one day last week—but surely,
surely, Maurice, you never touched the jar after
all I said to you?’

The terrified boy could control his feelings
no longer. ‘Oh papa, oh mama,’ he sobbed,



68 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



bursting into tears, ‘I did—I gave it to the old
man. He said it belonged to his family, and he
gave me a bow which would be sure to win the
match in exchange.’

‘What old man? what have you done?’
exclaimed both parents at once.

Interrupted by many tears, and aided by the
questions of his horrified yet interested hearers,
Maurice gave a full account of his two visits to
the cavern, of his theft of the keys and jar, and
of the exchange of the latter for the yellow bow
which had tempted him to such deception, dis-
obedience, and dishonesty. When he had ended
his parents remained silent for a minute or two,
then his father said :

‘It is needless to scold or punish you,
Maurice. You have punished yourself only too
severely, and, alas! you have included in your
punishment not only your father and mother,
but hundreds of poor innocent people, who have
lost their property and their means of livelihood
in this fearful flood. The only rebuke which I
can give you is to tell you the story of the
winning of the red jar which you have just
lost.’

‘Perhaps, said Herr Karl, ‘as this is a



VI THE BROKEN SPELL 69



history relating solely to your family, I had
better leave the room while you tell it.’

‘No, pray stay,’ returned the Baron. ‘ You
have heard the story of Maurice’s fault and
have seen the consequences. It is only right
that you should know why such an action
should have had such terrible results. I can
depend upon you not to reveal the secret.’

‘Certainly, Herr Baron,’ replied Herr Karl,
and the Baron told the following tale.



CHAPTER VII
THE BARON’S STORY

‘I am not quite sure if you know the exact
formation of what was called the Valley of
Brinkman and is now a vast lake. You are
aware that the part on which the castle stood
—lI fear we shall find at daybreak that it stands
no longer—was not a valley, but fields and
meadows bounded by the river Brinkman, which
ran out of a cavern some little way higher up.
Below Dickwald, however, there is, as you well
know, a waterfall, and the land on the left or
Brinkman bank of the river suddenly sloped
there, so as to form a fertile valley. The right
bank, on the contrary, is a high wall of rock,
which will have entirely prevented the flood
from extending in that direction. The river then
continues in a circle with the rock wall on one



CHAP. VII THE BARON’S STORY qi



hand, and the now flooded valley on the other,
till it comes round again to the back of the
curious rocky hill in which the cavern is
situated, when it turns sharp off on its course
to the sea. The lands and Valley of Brinkman
could formerly only be reached by crossing the
river or by climbing over the Cavern Hill, which
is exceedingly steep and indeed precipitous.
‘Rather more than a hundred years ago this
district went by the common name of the
Haunted Valley, both high and low ground
being included in the same term. ‘There were
then neither bridges nor boats, and the country
people did not care to approach too closely the
banks of the river which washed the high
ground, nor the steep cliffs which overlooked
the lower part. The upper land looked cold
and desolate and was generally overhung by a
thick fog. Below the waterfall it was said that
strange and uncouth monsters crawled out of
the river and dragged their ‘slimy way through
the rank grass and reeds of the marshy vale.
A few daring people had approached the top of
the rocks near the right bank of the source, and
had seen enough to know that the river, then
called the Round River, issued from the cavern ;



72 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



no reward would have induced them to go
near to that cavern, or to attempt to scale the
rocky hill which contained it.

‘You have heard that your great-great-grand-
father, Sir Maurice von Brinkman, received these
lands from the king as a reward for his gallant
services in defending the country against a
foreign invader ; but you have never heard the
full story of the gift, nor how it was secured and
held to the present time ; and this I am about to
tell you.

‘When the war was over and the invader
repulsed, the nobles and knights who had distin-
guished themselves were summoned before the
king to receive the honours and more substantial
rewards which they had respectively deserved.
Sir Maurice came amongst the rest. When the
king saw him he said :

«Sir Maurice, you have rendered the greatest
services of all. You held the frontier castle of
Streifner against assault and famine when all
others said that surrender was absolutely neces-
sary, and you captured, single-handed, the giant
leader Thornwald, who had killed every champion
who was sent against him. I bid you therefore
name your own reward.”



VII THE BARON’S STORY 73



‘« Sire,” returned Sir Maurice, ‘I only did
my duty. My sword is ever at my sovereign’s
command. Since, nevertheless, you deign to bid
me ask a favour at your hands, I ask for the
land encircled by the Round River and enclosed
by the Cavern Hill.”

‘Jn sooth, sir knight,” replied the king,
“you ask for what is hardly mine to give. The
land you speak of is that which men call the
Haunted Valley. Though it lies within the
precincts of my kingdom it is inhabited by fear-
some monsters, and none dare cross the river
or climb the Cavern Hill to enter within its
borders.”

‘**T know this well my liege,” said Sir
Maurice, “yet I ask of your grace permission to
force my way into that land, to cleanse it of the
monsters begotten from the river and the marsh,
to win it for my king, and, if it be his will, to
hold it from him as a vassal of the Crown.”

‘“Surely, Sir Maurice,” said the king, once
more, ‘‘ you seek rather to do me a grace than
to take one at my hands. If you cleanse that
dreary territory and fit it for the use of man,
you do well by all my subjects ; and it shall
assuredly be yours to have and to hold as a



74. MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



baron of the kingdom, free from all charge and
dues save the feudal service which a good knight
will always render at his liege’s need.”

‘Sir Maurice thanked the monarch, and left
his presence full of hope and glee. Though
nobly descended, he was but the younger son of
a younger son. His parents were both dead,
and had left him no land and little wealth. He
had been brought up as page to a noble lady, and
had in due course become a squire, and won in
battle the gold spurs of a knight. At the
present time, however, his good horse, his sword
and armour, constituted nearly all his riches.
The booty which had fallen to his share in the
late war he had generously divided amongst his
followers, and he now dismissed them to seek
service with some wealthier leader while he set
off alone to encounter the dangers of the Haunted
Valley.

‘He arrived the same evening at a little
wood near the Cavern Hill ; and, as darkness was
drawing on, he fastened his horse to a tree and
determined to sleep there that night and proceed
with his undertaking at daybreak on the
following morning. He had brought some
bread and meat with him, and had just seated



VII THE BARON’S STORY 75



himself on the ground prepared to begin his
supper, when an old woman came up to him
carrying a bundle of sticks.

‘*Good evening, mother,” said Sir Maurice,
observing that she stopped and looked at him
with some earnestness.

‘“ Good evening, sir knight,” replied the old
woman ; ‘‘methinks you are a bold gallant to
tarry so near the Cavern Hill.”

‘« Well, mother, you set me a good example,
since you are lingering here at sunset.”

«« Tam old and my bundle is heavy, young
man, else I should be further on my way.”

‘« carry it for you, mother. Is your house far
off?”

‘« A little way within the wood. I accept
your courtesy,” answered the woman, giving him
the bundle.

Sir Maurice slung it over his shoulder and
followed the dame who walked more rapidly
than he could have expected from her appear-
ance. She led the way, first through a thick
tangled undergrowth, and then amidst some tall
firs, which stood like sentinels in a grassy glade.
In a few minutes they arrived at a little hut



76 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



where they were greeted by two brown and two
grey hares, who ran forward to meet them, and
seemed delighted to see their mistress.

‘The old woman caressed them, bade them
be quiet, and taking the burden from the knight
invited him to enter the hut.

‘“«T must not stay,” he remarked, “ for I
have left my horse tied to the tree, but I will
come in for a moment and see if I can help you
further.”

“« You have a good heart,” said the sibyl.
“Tt is now my turn to help you. Come in and
do not be too proud to learn from an old
woman.”

‘Sir Maurice smiled at the idea of any help
which she could give him, but not wishing to
hurt her feelings went into the little dwelling.
All was dark and dreary till the hostess struck
a light with a flint and steel, and kindled a fire
on the hearth. She then asked suddenly :

‘« Are you going to try and enter the
Haunted Valley to-morrow? ”

‘Sir Maurice was somewhat taken aback,
and doubted for an instant whether it were wise
to confide his intentions to this stranger. He
did not, however, think it the part of a knight





‘He loves to wander in the valley and to tend the hideous animals who spring
from the river and the marsh” —« To face p. 77.

Copyright 1894 by Macmillan & Co.



vir THE BARON’S STORY 77.



to lie, so after a moment’s hesitation, he an-
swered :

«« Yes, I intend to do so.”

‘«Tisten then to my advice, and remember
my words. The monsters who haunt the
valley are all the creatures of one master. His.
name is Querquex. He is forever changing his
shape, and his home is the cavern within yonder
hill. He loves, however, to wander in the valley
and to tend the hideous animals who spring
from the river and the marsh. . You cannot
kill him, for no mortal weapon may slay him ;
but if you slaughter every monster which attacks
you, and never know fear, you will at length
drive their master back into the cavern. There
he keeps his terrible water-dogs, the fiercest of
all his troops. If you can conquer them you
may bind Querquex, and then you must refuse
to set him free till he has given you his red
jar. With that in your possession you and
your descendants can hold the valley and live
there in peace and safety. Querquex will
continue to live in the cavern, but will be
unable to come forth or harm you. Only, if
you win in this struggle, you must hand down
my words to your descendants, for should



78 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Querquex ever regain the talisman, all that you
have done will be useless, and desolation will
sweep back over the valley.”

‘Sir Maurice, greatly astonished, thanked the
old woman for her counsel and prepared to leave.

““T see,’ she said, “that you only half
believe me. I give you this advice as a reward
for your kindness to an old woman, and when
you find all happening as I say, you will know
that my words are true. This bottle contains a
fatal liquid, which you may use when the foes
you meet are such as knightly weapons could
not overcome. This cord, which was round the
wood which you carried, will serve to bind your
enemy. Take oe gifts; ; farewell, and may fair
fortune attend you.’

‘With courteous thanks and eeecers the
knight left the hut, returned to his horse, and
flinging himself on the ground slept soundly
till daybreak.

‘The sun had barely risen when Sir Maurice
rode up to the foot of the Cavern Hill and
looked carefully to see if there were any path by
which his horse could possibly scale it, if led by
the bridle. He chose the most favourable spot,
and, dismounting, began to clamber up followed



VII THE BARON’S STORY 79



by the intelligent animal. It was no easy task,
and he often began to think that it would be
necessary to tie his horse to some branch or
projecting root and to continue the ascent alone.
Knights in those days, however, were always
averse to fighting on foot so long as they could
retain their horses ; and Sir Maurice was, more-
over, very unwilling to abandon his faithful
steed to the unknown perils of such an ill-famed
neighbourhood.

‘ At last, after many difficulties, both man and
horse reached a comparatively flat spot on the
top of the hill, and paused to take breath. Sir
Maurice then, still holding his horse’s rein,
advanced towards what seemed to be the edge of
a precipice descending into the valley ; but just
as he was approaching the brink, a sudden fog
fell like a curtain before him, and he was obliged
to stand still for fear of making a false step, and
being precipitated to the bottom.

‘Much perplexed, he looked round on every
side, only to perceive that the fog overhung the
whole valley, making the attempt to descend into
it almost certain death. Behind him the road
by which he had climbed up was still clear, but
he never for a moment thought of retreat.



80 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



‘While he stood debating in his mind what
course he had better pursue, strange phantoms
began to appear in the mist ; some looked like the
faces of old men, some like those of fierce beasts,
some had round eyes and beaks like birds. Some
grinned, some scowled, and some distorted their
features as if they were mocking him. For a
time they were speechless, and kept alternately
appearing and disappearing, till at length one
began : “Go back, go back,” and another chimed
in, ‘“ Beware, beware,” till a thousand voices took
up a moaning chorus :

“Beware! rash man, nor dare thy fate,
The spell is strong, the whirlpools roar,
The cliffs are steep that bar the gate,
Who meets our master parts no more.”

‘« J defy your master!” shouted Sir Maurice.
“Be he man or magician, he is a coward to wrap
himself up.in this mantle of mist. Let him
throw it aside, and I will descend into the
valley and meet him and all his crew. Is he
with his brood of monsters afraid of a single
knight?” :

‘There was a pause, and then the doleful
chorus began again :



t

VII THE BARON’S STORY 81



“‘ Beware! rash man, thy words are high,
Thy sword is keen, thine arm is strong ;
But mortal man may fight to die,—
Not so the lord of yonder throng.”

‘« If he may not be slain,” cried Sir Maurice,
‘the more coward he to hide himself. Once
more I defy him. I only ask to see my enemy,
and I will encounter him in whatsoever shape he
may appear.”

‘For the last time and more faintly, the
chorus arose :

“We warn no more, thou reckless knight,
Of life and all its joys despair ;

Behold! and dread the gruesome sight !
The death thou darest waits thee there.”

‘As the last words died away, the fog lifted
as suddenly as it had fallen, and a truly fearful
spectacle presented itself. A steep, though not
absolutely impossible path wound down the
precipice; this was guarded on either side by
rows of gigantic animals resembling gorillas,
bearing clubs in their long sinewy hands, and
evidently prepared to dash out the brains of any
hero who might try to run the gauntlet between
their lines.

‘Even if by some extraordinary chance he
G



82 MAURICE: OR; THE RED JAR CHAP.



should pass them alive, a still more terrible
ordeal awaited him at the foot of the path.
There the whole army of indescribable monsters
was drawn up in battle array, with their lord at
their head.

_ ‘The first two lines were composed of river-
griffins, strange beasts with long scaly tails and
pointed wings, then came a battalion of dragons,
then two regiments, one of warriors with croco-
diles’ heads and lions’ bodies, and the other
reversing the arrangement, as its ranks were
formed of lions’ heads attached to the bodies
of crocodiles. Lastly, came a crowd which
seemed more dreadful than any of the others,
for it was made up of spiders as big as elephants,
and of colossal insects, mosquitoes as large as
giraffes, dragon-flies the size of tigers, and
others which Sir Maurice’s limited knowledge
of entomology did not enable him to identify.

‘In the centre of the crowd rode the terrible

Querquex. He appeared on this occasion like
a gigantic skeleton, with a towering helmet on
his head made entirely of hornets all clinging
together, and glittering in the sunlight which
now succeeded the mist. A robe made of
millions of moths’ wings fell from his bony



VIL THE BARON’S STORY 83

shoulders and swept over the flanks of the fierce
river-horse which he rode. The upper part
of this courser was like an ordinary, though
very large, horse, but instead of legs he had
six immense webbed flappers. These, though
very useful for swimming in the river, made
his movements on land awkward and ungraceful.

‘ As the whole scene broke on the astonished
gaze of Sir Maurice, Querquex, brandishing a
weapon which was something between a sword
and a saw in one hand, and a javelin in the
other, shouted in a voice like water plunging
from a rock:

‘«T accept your challenge, oh, braggart knight!
Come down, make good your words, and die.”

‘Without a moment’s hesitation Sir Maurice
cried back : “I come down, but not todie!” and
vaulting on his horse’s back dashed between the
ranks of the gorillas.

‘With a fearful yell the monstrous apes began
with one accord to swing their clubs at him, and
had it not been for the speed of his gallant

‘charger Favonius he must have been felled to
the ground and instantly slain. Favonius, how-
ever, flew so quickly down the path that half
the blows which rained on him and his master





84. MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



missed their aim altogether, and the remainder
were deprived of their full effect. Sir Maurice,
meantime, swung his sword to right and left,
slaying many of the monsters, and wounding
others, so that their yells of defiance were
quickly changed to shrieks of agony and fear.
Though considerably bruised, Sir Maurice and
his horse arrived at the foot of the precipice
without serious injury, and the former quickly
noticed that the griffins at least were a trifle
dismayed at the sudden and rapid descent of an
enemy. ‘I'he words of the sibyl flashed through
his mind, “If you never know fear ;” and it
struck him that the array of monsters drawn
up against him, however formidable in appear-
ance, might be totally unaccustomed to any sort
of fighting.

‘With renewed confidence he charged into
their ranks, and with the utmost presence of
mind he observed that the griffins while hitting
out with their paws always drew their pointed
wings forward to protect their necks.

‘These were evidently their sensitive points,
so he struck with his sword at the neck of every
erifin he could reach, raising his shield at the
same time to ward off the blows of their paws.



VI THE BARON’S STORY 85



His success was complete. One blow at a
griffin’s neck was sufficient to lay him a corpse
at the feet of Favonius,! and the first two lines
were promptly in the utmost disorder, some of
the surviving griffins taking to ignominous flight,
and the remainder falling back on the dragons
behind them. The long tails of the griffins hit
the dragons in their faces and annoyed them
greatly, so they began to vomit forth their usual
supply of fire and smoke before Sir Maurice
came up to them, to dart out their forked
tongues, and to lash out with their own formid-
able tails in order to get those of the griffins out
of the way.

‘Maurice thought the best plan was to kill
half a dozen dragons by hitting them on their
heads in passing, and then to leave them
entangled with the griffins, and confused by
the cloud of smoke and flame which they had
raised themselves, whilst he made straight for
the lion-crocodiles and crocodile-lions.

‘These also appeared a good deal disturbed by
the slaughter which had taken place in the front

' This information, not to be found in modern Military
Handbooks, is very useful to recollect in case you should
ever encounter a river-griflin.



86 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



ranks. Still encouraged by the shouts of
Querquex from behind, they closed in from
either side, and a lion-headed crocodile ran at
Sir Maurice from the right just as a crocodile-
headed lion charged him on the left. He was
in the greatest danger, when the brave Favonius
gave the crocodile head a violent kick which
caused him to swerve, and Sir Maurice severed
the lion head from the crocodile body at the
same moment.

‘The other dual animals came on with much
less vigour. Favonius, emboldened by his first
success, kicked out in all directions, and Maurice
cut off three or four more lions’ heads, with the
result that both regiments turned tail and scurried
off to their native marshes.

‘ Querquex, now perfectly frantic at the defeat
of his vanguard, called in some unknown tongue
to his insect battalions, evidently ordering them
to charge all at once, and crush this insolent
knight and his equally intrusive horse.

‘A wild and discordant war-cry arose from
the ranks ; the spiders hissed like hurricanes, the
mosquitoes hummed like organs, the dragon-flies
buzzed like thunder, and the other creatures
shricked and screamed and roared, till the



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OR

The Red Jar

A TALE OF ‘MAGIC AND ADVENTURE
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS

BY

THE COUNTESS OF JERSEY

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROSIE M. M. PITMAN

London
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK

1894

All rights reserved
Dedicated

To
BEATRICE
AND

ARTHUR
CHAP.

N

Nn wm > wo

“I

CONTENTS

. Maurice

Tue BirrHpay
Tue Benp oF THE River
Tue Cavern

Tue Rep Jar

. THe Broken SPELL

. Tue Baron’s Srory .
. THe Otp Woman

. THE Journey

. Tue Eartu-Kinc | .
. THe Seconp Qugst .
. Otp ACQUAINTANCE .
. Tse Lasr Trian

. Home Acain

PAGE

10
23
34
47
60
70
gi

106

118

132

147

165

183
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FRONTISPIECE.

THe CastTie : ; ; . To face page \
‘Do we look so very wicked?’ —.. : i. 28
Tue YeLLow Bow A : : a 41

‘He loves to wander in the valley and to
tend the hideous animals who spring

from the river marsh’

” 77

And did not wake till the sun was setting . Bee a Tels

‘I cannot steal,’ gasped Maurice ae 129
The Phoenix with a great swoop dashed

through the Fiery Clouds. : ee Oy,

Some one to care for him, even a red baby ! ee aly 743

The most charming of fairies 5 : ee N88


Tue CasTLe. To face p. 1.
CHAPTER 1
MAURICE

A Lone time ago in a far-off country lived a
little boy called Maurice. He had brown eyes
and curly brown hair, and was nearly eleven
years old at the time our story begins. His
father and mother, the Baron and Baroness von
Brinkman, were the owners of a fine castle stand-
ing near the banks of a river which almost
encircled their property. Maurice was their
only child and they loved him dearly. They
were very careful to have him well taught, and
as there was no school near to which they could
send him, and as they could not bear to let him
go far away while he was young, they had en-
gaged a tutor, Herr Karl, to live in the castle,

Maurice was not an idle boy by any means.
x B
2 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



He learnt well and played well, and he was
kind-hearted and affectionate. Then he was a
good boy? We shall see.

‘Oh, Herr Karl,’ said Maurice, running into
the schoolroom one morning, ‘do you know

‘J know boys ought to take off their hats
when they come into a room,’ remarked Herr
Karl.

‘Well, I had so much news inside my head
that I forgot my hat was outside,’ responded
Maurice, taking it off; ‘only think, Herr Karl,
there’s going to be an archery match. Isn't
that fun?’

‘An archery match? Where?’

‘Inthe village! In Dickwald! And there’s
to be a prize! a beautiful silver horn!’

Here Maurice’s feelings were too many for
him, and he had to relieve them by turning a
somersault, which landed him at Herr Karl’s
feet.

‘But, my dear boy, you have not won the
prize yet, and there are plenty of good shots in
the neighbourhood—grown-up men, too.’

‘Oh yes, but the prize I mean is for boys—
for boys under fourteen. Of course there’s a
man’s prize as well, but that is not nearly so


I MAURICE 3



_ important. I daresay the men will shoot very
well, but there are not many boys who can shoot
better than I can. There's Hans—he and I are
very equal ; and Rudolf—he beat me last time,
but I was very near him the time before. As
for Otto——’

‘As for Otto, he must be postponed for the
present. It is past nine o'clock, and lessons
must be done extra well to-day if you are to
have a holiday to-morrow in honour of your
birthday.’

‘Oh dear,’ sighed Maurice, ‘it will be very
dificult to do one’s lessons extra well with a
birthday to-morrow and an archery meeting
next month to think about. Couldn’t we read
about William Tell or somebody who shot
something anyhow? I think if you could get a
bow and arrows into my lessons I could attend
to them better!’

‘We cannot get William Tell into Roman
history, and you have to read that to-day.’

‘Then give me a dictation about him, do, or
a sum. I am sure you can give me a sum
about how many inches there were in the yards
that he stood away from Albert.’

‘Now, Maurice, leave off talking nonsense
4 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



and get your Latin grammar. You will never
be worth anything, nor accomplish anything
worth doing, if you want to mix up one interest
with another, and to think of two things at
once.’

Maurice fetched his Latin grammar, mutter-
ing an opinion that ¢hat was not an interest, but
I hope Herr Karl did. not hear him. At all
events he said nothing in answer, and Maurice
was soon absorbed in rules of syntax.

No sooner were Maurice’s morning lessons
ended than he dashed off to tell his mother
about the archery match, and to ask her to take
him to buy one or two new arrows which he
thought he needed both for practice and for
the great occasion. Baroness von Brinkman
promised to do so next time she went to the
town, which was about five miles off, and
having listened to all that Maurice had to say
on the subject, said she had business to attend to,
and rose to leave the room.

‘J am going to practise at the target,’ said
Maurice, and he got up and followed her.

Now the staircase was a little beyond Baroness
von Brinkman’s dressing-room door. She went
into her dressing-room and thought that Maurice
I MAURICE 5



had gone downstairs. He started with that inten-
tion, but lingered, as he had often done before, to
look at a picture of a battle which hung on the
staircase, and while he was still standing on the
steps his mother came out of her room again and
walked somewhat hastily along the corridor past
the head of the stairs. Maurice looked up, but
she did not see him, and he began to wonder
where she was going. Partly from curiosity
and partly for fun, he followed her very quietly
at a little distance. She stopped at a door
which Maurice never remembered to have seen
opened, took a key from her pocket and un-
locked it.. She passed through it, leaving it ajar,
and Maurice, still following, pushed it further
open and peeped inside. He saw a small room
with no furniture in it, except a couple of chairs
and an old-fashioned cabinet, consisting of a
cupboard with wooden doors as its lower part,
and three shelves above, with brass lattice work
in front of them. Baroness von Brinkman,
with another and smaller key, unfastened the
lock which secured the lattice work and threw
it open, so that Maurice saw plainly what was
before partly hidden by the brass bars—a red
jar standing on the middle shelf of the three.
6 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



She took the jar down, dusted it very carefully
with a duster which she had brought with her,
held it for a minute or two in her hand as if she
were considering it intently, and then put it back
on the shelf. She pushed the lattice into its
place again and turned the lock which kept it
there, and not till she was about to leave the
room did she see Maurice standing very quietly
in the doorway.

‘What are you doing here, child?’

‘Nothing, mama, I was looking at you.
Why do you keep that red jar so carefully
locked up all by itself in that cupboard? Is it
very precious?’

‘So precious that you must never touch it
on any account whatever, nor go into the room
by yourself. Mind what I say, Maurice—and
more than this, you must not talk about the
red jar to any one.’

‘Not to Herr Karl?’

‘No, not even to Kerr Karl. No one must
know anything about it but papa and I.’

‘But why is it such a secret mama?’

‘Never mind my dear—you shall know when
you are older—now I must put away the keys.’

‘Oh, and mama,’ said Maurice, ‘will you
I MAURICE 7



give me the fresh ribbons you promised me for
my bow? I want to tie them on.’

‘Very well,’ answered his mother ; ‘ come with
me to my room.’

Baroness von Brinkman and Maurice went
back to her dressing-room, and Maurice watched
his mother put the keys she had used into a
small drawer which she locked, then she put the
key of the drawer into her desk, and locked the
desk with one of the keys belonging to a bunch
which she always kept in her pocket, as Maurice
was well aware. He hardly knew why he paid
such particular attention to her movements,
though he felt curious about the jar, and wondered
why she locked up key after key so carefully.
However, wonder was vain—Baroness von Brink-
man looked for the ribbon he had asked for, and
made him up a pretty knot with long ends to
fasten to his bow. Between the ribbon and a
little more conversation as to the shooting
powers of Hans, Otto, Rudolf, and various other
boys, the red jar was for a while forgotten, and
Maurice ran off to practise at the target till
dinner-time.

After dinner more lessons, and these ended,
Maurice was free to go down to the village,


3 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



where, under the guidance of Herr Karl, some
of the boys had formed themselves into a kind
of club for archery and other games. Of course
at the present minute archery carried all before
it, and the one thought in every mind and the
one subject of every tongue was, Who hit the
bull’s eye yesterday? What score is so-and-so
making this evening? Who will shoot best on.
the 5th of August—the day of the great match?

‘Well, if I can’t get the prize myself I hope
the young Baron will,’ cried Rudolf, a sturdy
red-haired lad, as Maurice arrived on the
scene.

‘I wish we could all get prizes,’ remarked
Hans, a rather sleepy youth, but a good shot
nevertheless.

‘If we did they would not be prizes,’ said
Otto, very sagely.

‘Why not?’ asked Maurice.

‘Isn’t a prize something given to the person
who does best?” questioned Otto.

‘Why, yes—I suppose so.’

‘Well, if we all did equally well and all had
presents, nobody would have done best, and so
the presents would not be prizes.’

‘J shouldn’t care whether they were called
I MAURICE 9



prizes or presents so long as I had one,’ rejoined
Hans.

‘And I don’t think you are right,’ returned
Rudolf. ‘A prize is something given to you
because you have done well; there need not be a

“question of doing better than other people.’

‘There is this time at all events,’ said
Maurice. ‘We shall have to do better than other
people if we are to get the silver horn.’

‘Take my advice, boys, and do your dest
whether you get the silver horn or not,’ put in
Herr Karl.

‘And we shall not do our best unless we
practise now instead of talking,’ remarked Albert,
a tall boy who was standing a little apart from
the others.

Whereupon there was a general stringing of
bows and choosing of arrows, and the question
raised by Otto was left unsettled so far as the
youth of Dickwald was concerned.

Maurice shot well, but Rudolf shot better
that evening, and when Maurice went to bed he
dreamt that the red jar was fixed on the top of
a high pole, and that he and the other boys were
shooting at: it till at last his arrow hit it and
broke it all to atoms.
CHAPTER I
THE BIRTHDAY

Wepnespay, July 5th, was Maurice’s birthday.
The sun shone very brightly, and the birds sang
very merrily on the particular 5th July when he
completed eleven years of life, and as he dressed
himself fresh ideas almost chased away those of
the day before.

‘I wonder what papa and mama will give
me to-day, thought he. ‘There! there’s a button
off my shirt, and now I must get another—
always the way when one is in a hurry—they
gave me my bow and arrows and quiver last
year—and my desk the year before—wherever
are my shoes—I wish Bridget would put them
where I can ftnd them—oh, here’s one—where
can the other be? Ah, I remember | threw it
on the top of the cupboard to bring down my
CHAP, II THE BIRTHDAY Ir



ball, but it didn’t bring down my ball, and now
they are both up there. What am I to do?
Will papa mind my being late on a birthday
morning? I hope he won’t say we must begin
breakfast, and keep my present till afterwards—
I do so want to know what itis. Could J shoot
my shoe off the top of the cupboard I wonder?
Then mama does not like my shooting in the
house. It couldn’t hurt anybody though if I
shot at my shoe. My shoe would not feel if I
did hit it, but it might spoil my ball if it hit
that. Well, I must put on my boots and leave
my shoe and my ball to take care of each other.
My boots will take ever so much longer to put
on. What can my present be?’

Even the boots contrived to be laced at last,
and Maurice ran downstairs to breakfast.

‘Many happy returns of the day, my boy,’
said his father.

‘Many happy returns of the day, dear,’ added
his mother.

‘Many happy returns of the day to you,
Maurice,’ said Herr Karl; and they all smiled,
and made no remark about breakfast having
been ready some minutes before.

‘And do you think the sth of July has
12 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



produced anything besides good wishes?’ asked
Baron von Brinkman, after Maurice had thanked
them and said good morning.

Maurice got rather red and answered that he
did not know.

‘Well, look out of the window,’ said his
father, and the boy hastened to do so.

The windows of the breakfast room, like those
of most of the living rooms in the castle, over-
looked the river, which was here only separated
from the building by a narrow strip of flower
garden. At the bottom of this garden three
stone steps led down to the water, and what
was Maurice’s delight to see moored to an iron
ring near the foot of the steps a lovely little boat
such as a boy could easily row and ‘manage.
Two sculls lay ready in the boat, and a bright
red flag with ‘Maurice’ worked on it in white
letters hung from a white pole at the bow.

‘Oh, thank you, thank you, papa; thank you,
mama!’ cried Maurice, clapping his hands and
beginning to dance round the room. ‘A boat
that I can row myself! What fun! The old
one was much too heavy, and old Peter was
always too busy or too idle to come with me.
I may go alone in this one, mayn’t I?’
ul THE BIRTHDAY 13



‘Yes, my boy, on one condition,’ answered
his father. ‘You know no one ever took you
in the old boat further than the bend of the
river on the way to Helmer, nor beyond the
bridge below Dickwald. You may row between
these two boundaries as much as you like, but
you must never go beyond them.’

‘Oh, there’s plenty of room between them,’
returned Maurice readily ; ‘but I wonder why
we never go beyond the bend of the river. I
know there is a waterfall below the Dickwald
bridge which makes that side dangerous, but
old Peter could never tell me what was the
danger of the upper part of the river, and I
forgot to ask you before.’

‘It is more dangerous than the other,’
remarked his father, rather hastily.

‘Why, is there a larger waterfall?’ asked
Maurice, surprised.

‘Never mind,’ said his father; ‘you will
understand better when you are older.’

‘Just what mama said about the red Jar,’
thought Maurice. ‘I wonder how much older
I must be?’ but he did not venture to ask more,
and his mother changed the conversation by
asking if he meant to go and practise shooting
14 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



at Dickwald that morning since he had a
holiday ?

‘It will be no good going this morning,’
answered Maurice, who was now eating his
breakfast, ‘for the other boys cannot get away
from school or work till the evening ; perhaps
I shall have a practice by myself some time
to-day, but I must have a row in my new boat
first. Won't you come, mama? I will row you
up to the place where the forget-me-nots grow.’

‘Very well, answered his mother, ‘I will
come as soon as I have seen the housekeeper.’

Maurice and his mother had a very pleasant
row that morning, and then Maurice practised
at his target till dinner-time. After dinner
there still remained two or three hours to be
filled up before teatime, as he had settled to go
to Dickwald with Herr Karl after tea. But the
boat was still a novelty, and Maurice was only
toe pleased to go in it again by himself, since
every one else was busy. For some little time
he rowed up and down in front of the house,
chasing the swans, and trying how quickly he
could turn the boat. Then he pushed close up
to the bank to gather some more forget-me-nots,
and very nearly contrived to lose an oar in his
IL THE BIRTHDAY 15



attempt, not to speak of alarming a moor hen
and her brood. The forget-me-nots were in full
beauty, and Maurice thought he would try and
gather enough for a garland to twist round his
flag-staff. He rowed to another tuft a little
further along the bank, then to another and yet
another, always seeing some which appeared
brighter and more beautiful just a little beyond.

Near the bend of the river, which was the
forbidden boundary, on the upper or Helmer
side, grew a beautiful willow tree whose boughs
hung down and touched the clear waters be-
neath. Under this tree Maurice stayed his little
boat, drew in the oars, and leant back in the stern
to rest for a few minutes in the pleasant shade
and arrange his supply of forget-me-nots.

‘I wonder whether I have enough,’ thought
he, ‘to twist all round the pole. I wish I had
some string with me, for then I could tie them
together and see. One always has string when
one doesn’t want it, and never if one does. I'll
put the little bunches in a row along the bottom
of the boat and guess. There, that looks as if
there would be enough ; but no, they will have
to be twisted as they go round the pole, and that
will take more than a straight line. I must get
16 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



some more. We must row down to Dickwald
this evening, and the boys will be surprised when
we come with such a smart boat. Oh dear,
what lovely forget-me-nots near those rushes!
Are they beyond the bend of the river? Oh
no, they are exactly on the edge of the turn. I
can reach them without going round.’

Just too near Maurice! He picked the
flowers exactly on the edge, and of course there
were some still more beautiful only just round
the corner. ‘It cannot matter my just going to
fetch those—one stroke of the oars will do it,
and then I will turn back at once.’ One stroke
of the oars brought him very near the flowers,
but not quite; another took him into a clump
of reeds in which he could steady the boat
nicely while he stood up to gather these super-
lative blossoms. While he was doing so a
curious thing happened. He thought that he
had drawn his oars far enough into the boat to
make them quite safe, but something made a
sudden grab at one of them, and dragged it into
the water. What the something was Maurice,
who had his back turned, could not see. Could
a large fish have mistaken his oar for a gigantic
fly? No time to think, for he must recover it
ist THE BIRTHDAY 17



before it floated too far off. Still more oddly it
seemed to be floating up stream against the
current. He pushed away from the bank in
the direction of the lost oar, and had stretched
out his hand to seize it when it made a jerk as
if it were alive, and twisted itself out of his
reach. He paddled as well as he could with the
remaining one, and again thought he could catch
the troublesome paddle, when—no ; this time it
turned a regular somersault into the air, and fell
back into the water a few yards away! Maurice
felt very much inclined to cry, despite his eleven
years. What was he to do? How could he
catch an oar which seemed to be enchanted, or
alive, or something? Of course this had hap-
pened because he had trespassed on forbidden
waters. Should he try and get back with the
one oar which was left? Could he?

As these thoughts passed quickly through
his mind, something bright flashed in the water,
raised itself for a minute into the air, and then
disappeared again with agreat splash. ‘Perhaps,’
thought Maurice, ‘that is the big fish which is
playing with my oar. If the nasty thing would
only get out of the way, the current would
float it to me. J will wait and see.’ Another

c
18 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHaP.



splash, and a white hand appeared, took the oar
and pushed it still further off; and then to
Maurice’s amazement, a laughing boy’s face
suddenly arose from the stream and said:
‘Halloo young one! what’s the matter? Why
do you look so grave this fine afternoon? Can
I help you?’

‘Oh, please give me my oar,’ said Maurice ;
‘and why are you not drowned?’

‘Why should I be drowned?’ said the boy ;
‘don’t you see I can swim?’

‘Yes, but you have been all this time under
the water ; at least I have been here a long time
and have only just seen you.’

‘You should use your eyes to better purpose,
youngster; perhaps you have not seen my
brother, but I hope he’s not drowned in
consequence.’

‘Your brother? No,’ returned Maurice,
‘but won't you give me my oar?’

‘Never mind your oar; my brother and I
will push your boat along for you without
giving you the trouble of using that clumsy old
thing.’

The new-comer gave a shrill whistle, and a
second boy, exactly like the first, rose even more
II THE BIRTHDAY 19



suddenly from the depths of the river and said:
‘What’s up?’

‘Why, here’s a visitor who wants to tire
himself by rowing. We are much too polite to
let him exert himself in that way, are we not?
Here, you take that side of the prow, and I’ll
take this, and he shall skim along like a flying-
fish.’

‘All right,’ said number two; and before
Maurice could get in a word, the boys had hold
of his boat and were darting up-stream with it.

‘Stop, stop,’ cried Maurice, ‘you're taking
me the wrong way. I want to go home.’

‘So do we want to go home, and we're going,’
returned the second boy.

‘Oh, but I must get back to the castle for
tea,’ exclaimed Maurice.

‘Exactly,’ said number one; ‘ you want your
tea, and we’re going to give you the best tea
you ever had in your life.’

‘No, really, indeed,’ implored Maurice, ‘ you
must let me go. 1 was told not to come beyond
the bend of the river and I didn’t mean to—I
only meant to come a tiny little bit of the way
just to get those forget-me-nots ; and if you make
me late I shall be scolded, and most likely they
20 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



won't let me go and shoot—and it’s my birth-
day,’ added the poor boy, nearly crying.

‘Nonsense,’ began the second boy, but the
first stopped him by saying something in a low
voice, of which Maurice only caught the words,
‘told us—coax him,’ and then number one
added aloud and in a very friendly tone, ‘ Look
here, youngster, we have taken a great fancy to
you. My brother and I seldom see other boys,
and we are exceedingly anxious to have you to
play with, and we can only let you go home
now on two conditions

‘What?’ said Maurice, eagerly.

‘Oh, very simple ones—only that you say
nothing about having met us, and that you
promise faithfully to come and see us again.’

‘I don’t mind promising not to say that I
have seen you,’ answered Maurice, hesitating ;
‘but I cannot promise to come here again, be-
cause I am not allowed to come beyond the
bend, asI told you before. Cannot you come to
see me at the castle, or come to Dickwald to
shoot with all the other boys?’

‘We are not allowed to go beyond our side
of the bend either,’ returned number two; ‘and
as for shooting—if you'll come home with us


I THE BIRTHDAY 21



you shall see such shooting as you never saw
before.’

‘Well, look here,’ said Maurice, who was
too anxious to get away to consider whether
what he was promising was either right or wise,
‘if you'll let me go, and give me my oar
now, I'll promise to come and meet you at the
bend, and we can talk together each from his
own side.’

‘Very well,’ said his first acquaintance, ‘ but
you must say when you'll come.’

‘ Next Saturday afternoon,’ answered Maurice,
‘when I have a half-holiday.’

‘Quite early?’ said number two.

‘ Yes, as soon as I can after dinner.’

‘And you promise to tell no one about us?’

“No one.’

‘Honour bright?’ cried both boys together.

‘Honour bright,’ returned Maurice.

The two boys appeared to be satisfied, and
repeated that Maurice had no idea what he was
missing by not coming to their tea and shooting,
but that they hoped to see him at their home
before long. They then turned the boat and
swam rapidly back, guiding it on either side till
they were exactly opposite the fatal bend of the
22 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP. II



river. Here they restored him his oar, and
shouting, ‘ Good-bye! remember Saturday,’ dived
beneath the waters, disappearing as suddenly as
they had appeared. Maurice watched for a
minute or two to see whether they would come
to the surface further off; perceiving no signs
of them, he rowed quickly home, feeling very
anxious and perplexed.

He went to Dickwald after tea with his
tutor, but the knowledge that he had done
wrong, and the fear of what would happen on
the following Saturday, made him uneasy, and he
did not shoot so well as usual. Herr Karl
noticed that he was rather dull; he fancied that
he had been over-excited and was tired by
rowing all that hot afternoon, so he merely
advised him to go to bed quickly after their
return. ‘Thus ended the eventful birthday.
CHAPTER III

THE BEND OF THE RIVER

THurspay—Friday—two whole days to think
the matter over, and then would come Satur-
day, when Maurice must meet the strange boys
again.

What was to be done? If he had not
promised he might have consulted his mother
or Herr Karl; as it was he could only turn the
matter over in his own little curly head, and
that little head was hardly large enough to hold
such a difficulty and lessons as well. Even the
all-important question of the archery match
was almost cast into the shade by the more
immediate perplexity as to how he was to end
his acquaintance with two boys who insisted upon
knowing him, and yet might not or would not
visit him, while they seem determined to entice
.

24 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



him into forbidden waters. Of course he could
simply shout out to them, ‘Here I am; I have
kept my promise by coming; and now good-
bye,’—and then quickly row away again,—but
at the bottom of his heart Maurice knew that
he would find it very hard to do this. The
truth was, as perhaps you have discovered, that
Maurice, though an active good-tempered little
boy, was rather curious and not perfectly
obedient. Lessons were less well done than
usual, and Herr Karl was much disposed to
threaten that Maurice should not go to the even-
ing practice at Dickwald. Only then Herr Karl
was almost as anxious for Maurice’s success as
Maurice himself, so he contented himself with a
deduction of marks, which would decidedly lessen
Maurice’s weekly pocket-money, and set out
with his pupil for the village. They walked a
little way in silence, and then Maurice said :

‘Herr Karl, did anybody ever ask you to
promise something which wasn’t a thing that
you liked, and then when you had to do the
thing you didn’t know whether you had better
do it or not?’

‘Why, Maurice, if I did not want to do the
thing I should not promise to do it.’
IL THE BEND OF THE RIVER 25



‘No, but Herr Karl, if the other person
wanted you to do a nastier thing, and would
not let you not do it unless you promised to
do the other thing? ’

‘Your things are rather confusing,’ replied
his tutor smiling. ‘Has anybody been making
you promise to do something disagreeable?’

‘I don’t know,’ replied Maurice, hastily, ‘ but
do you think people ought always to keep
promises, and not to tell things if they say they
won't?’

Herr Karl paused for a moment, wondering
whether it were his duty to try and find out to
what Maurice was referring. Supposing, how-
ever, that one of the Dickwald boys had got
into some trifling scrape, and that it would not
be quite fair to press Maurice on the subject,
he answered :

‘Certainly, if you have promised to keep
another person’s secret, as a general rule you
have no right to betray it. On the other hand,
if you have promised to do anything actually
wrong you had no right to give such a promise,
and therefore have no right to keep it. Iam
afraid I cannot say more unless you can give
me further particulars—I mean if you are asking
260 - MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



my advice with regard to something which has
really happened and not in an imaginary case.’

Maurice was silent, and presently began
talking about the shooting, a topic which lasted
till they reached the village. When he returned
home he was too sleepy and tired to reflect much
more on his promises. Next day, however, he
thought over his tutor’s words, and came to the
conclusion that he should not be doing anything
‘actually wrong’ in rowing to the bend of the
river; and that he should be thereby at once
keeping his promise and gratifying his curiosity
about his mysterious companions of Wednesday
afternoon. I fear he did not sufficiently con-
sider that he had already done wrong on that
occasion, and that it would be necessary to be
very much on his guard, lest he should be once
more enticed into a similar fault.

Saturday was a brilliant day, and when
Maurice’s morning lessons were over his tutor
asked whether he would like to: have a ride in
the afternoon, as his parents had an engagement
in the neighbouring town and would not be able
to take him out, as they often did on _half-
holidays.

‘No, thank you,’ said Maurice; ‘I want to
qr THE BEND OF THE RIVER 27



row myself again in.my new boat. You see the
shooting takes up all the evenings, so I have not
much time for rowing.’

Herr Karl was not at all surprised at this
choice, and only said when he saw him run
down the garden after dinner to the little boat-
house near the steps, ‘Take care not to fall
into the water.’

Falling into the water was not the worst
danger which Maurice had to dread on this
occasion! Very quickly and rather nervously
he rowed towards the meeting-place. He was
yet some yards off when he heard a gay halloo!
and saw both boys swimming and splashing about
like young porpoises. They wore no clothes
unless garlands of a kind of long green grass or
seaweed could be dignified by that name, and
with their bright yellow hair and large deep
blue eyes they were certainly very lovely boys.
They were exactly alike, and appeared to be
about his own age.

‘Here I am,’ said Maurice, ‘and now I have
kept my promise, I shall just say good afternoon,
and go back again.’

‘Oh, nonsense,’ cried one of the brothers,
‘you promised to come and talk to us. I
28 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



don’t call shouting those few words talking
to us.’

‘Besides, where’s the harm of stopping ?’
added the other. ‘You were only forbidden to
pass the bend ; you weren’t told to shut your eyes
and hold your tongue when you got near it.’

‘No,’ said Maurice, foolishly hesitating, ‘ but
since you made me promise to say nothing about
you, I suppose you—you--—’

‘We were the forbidden companions do you
mean? hat’s very rude of you,’ laughed the
brother who had spoken first.

‘Do we look so very wicked?’ chimed in the
other, catching hold of number one, throwing
him down in the water and rolling over him.

It did look delightful to frolic so gaily
in the cool stream, and Maurice could not
help exclaiming, ‘I wish I could swim like
you!’

‘Do you? come with us then and we'll
teach you,’ cried the boys.

‘No, no,’ protested Maurice, pushing back a
stroke or two. Why did he not go away? He
had kept his promise, and the sooner he hurried
out of temptation the better it would have been
for him.
ny

@
(fp-&,
i

Sy,

SEQ
q
be

(is
“

a

5 ES
i ros SS
i

A

(SSE

< yp

i

YRS

SSSR



‘Do we look so very wicked?’

Fao
=

DE

D

SAA IN
=F)

Si

SS

—
RR

Py
'

To face p. 28.
11 THE BEND OF THE RIVER 29



‘You have not told us your name?” said
one.

‘No, let’s have a proper introduction,’ added
the other.

‘My name is Maurice yon Brinkman. What
are yours?’

‘Iam Kelpie.’

‘And I am Nix.’

‘What funny names— only Kelpie and
Nix?’

‘Ah, the rest of our name is a secret.’ We
keep it at home,’ said Kelpie, laughing again.

‘With the tea and the bows and arrows—
such bows and such arrows!’ shouted Nix,
jumping right up into the air, and disappearing
again into the river.

‘How can I know you apart? Which is
Kelpie and which is Nix?’

‘I have a little blue mark on my wrist,’
returned Kelpie ; ‘and Nix has a little red one.
Can’t you see?’ added he, holding up his hand
for a second.

‘No, you’re too far off, and you put it down
again so quickly.’

‘Come a little nearer, then.’

Maurice rowed quite up to the bend, though
30 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



not round it; the two boys came up and showed
him the marks.

‘Are you fond of fishing?’ inquired Nix.

‘Pretty well, but the fish in this river are so
small.’

‘There are bigger ones up our way—oh, look,
there’s a whopper !’

‘Where? where?’ cried the eager Maurice.

‘There—come a bit this way—don’t you
see?’

Forgetting his resolutions Maurice quickly
turned the fatal corner, and caught a glimpse of
something dashing up the river.

‘Follow quick, quick,’ cried both boys. ‘It’s
the most extraordinary fish I ever saw,’ asserted
Kelpie ; and both swam after it as if their lives
depended on the chase, followed alas! by
Maurice. In a few minutes he became con-
scious of what he had done. Had he even
then turned round and hastened back he might
have escaped, but the foolish boy only stopped
and called out :

‘I must not go any further. Good-bye
Kelpie, good-bye Nix.’

‘Not a bit of it,’ returned Kelpie, turning at
once, and coming up to the left of the boat he
IIL THE BEND OF THE RIVER 31



seized it as he had done before, whisking one
oar out of Maurice’s hand, while his brother
caught hold of the other and took the right
side of the boat.

‘No,’ said Nix; ‘you see if there was any
harm in crossing the boundary, you’ve done it
already, so your coming on won’t make an
atom of difference. Besides, you can’t help
yourself now, you’re not rowing the boat; we
are pulling it, so it’s not your fault.’

‘Of course not,’ added Kelpie, ‘and you're
coming to see our grandfather.’

‘Herr Karl will expect me back at tea-time,’
declared Maurice; ‘if I am not there he’ll
want to know the reason, and I must tell him
all about it.’

‘What’s your tea-time ?

‘Five o’clock.’

‘Well, it’s not three yet. We'll take care
that you’re back in time, and not a soul will be
the wiser.’

Maurice, though a good deal frightened, was
still curious, so he began to persuade himself
that all this was really not his fault—anyhow
not altogether—that since he had broken the
rule a little more or a little less disobedience
32 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



made no difference, and that he had better enjoy
himself while he could.

This part of the river was very pretty, more
picturesque than the part near the castle, and it
struck him that he had never seen it even from
the banks, for high rocks began to rise on either
side, and these were crowned with thick pine-
forests, which formed a barrier between the
sheltered waters and the surrounding country.
Near the castle, on the contrary, low grassy
meadows sloped to the water’s edge, and rich
cornfields lay beyond.

The boys swam much quicker than Maurice
could row ; trees and rocks seemed to fly past
the boat, and he soon found himself passing
between cliffs, black and overhanging, which
almost shut out the daylight.

‘Where are we going?’ asked he, in an awe-
struck voice.

‘It’s all right; we're nearly there,’ replied
Kelpie ; ‘look, there’s the landing-place.’

He pointed to a shelf of rock projecting
from the foot of one of the highest cliffs on
their right hand. Just beyond this platform
the cliffs closed in before them, forming a
high, bare wall broken by the entrance of
ul THE BEND OF THE RIVER 33



an enormous cavern, from which the river
flowed in a broad dark stream.

‘What do you mean? I don’t want to go
into that black gloomy hole,’ said Maurice,
more and more alarmed.

‘Don’t be frightened, returned Nix, ‘surely
you're not afraid of the dark?’

‘Besides, it will be light again directly,’
added his brother ; and they drew the boat up to
the landing-place, and fastened the chain which
was coiled up in the bow to a queerly-shaped
projecting rock.

‘Now jump out,’ said Kelpie, ‘and come and
see our grandfather.’

‘Your grandfather!’ replied the astonished
Maurice, slowly preparing to obey, ‘ Where does
he live?’

‘In there,’ said Kelpie.

Maurice now saw that a very narrow passage
led from the landing-place right into the great
rock out of which the river flowed, and ran
alongside of the stream within the cavern.
CHAPTER IV
THE CAVERN

Ir was all very well for Nix to say, ‘You're not
afraid of the dark.’ Maurice was as brave as
most boys, and did not mind dark passages or
dark rooms. If his father or mother had been
with him he would have gone into any cavern
without a thought of fear, or if he had been for
a picnic with the Dickwald boys he would have
been the first to undertake an exploring ex-
pedition. It was a different matter altogether to
enter a cavern in a place which he had been
forbidden to approach with companions who
had insisted on his keeping their existence a
secret. Maurice was quite old and sensible
enough to know that there was something wrong
and probably dangerous about the whole pro-
ceeding, and under such circumstances an
CHAP. IV THE CAVERN 35





invitation to enter a dark hole was not likely to
raise his spirits. Nevertheless, it was now too
late to draw back; the only thing was to get his
visit over as quickly as possible, and to keep for
the future to his own part of the river. Kelpie
led the way, bidding Maurice follow him closely
step by step and take care not to slip, while Nix
brought up the rear. With a beating heart the
little boy followed his guide, whose white limbs
were easily seen in the dim passage. For two
or three minutes they walked past the silently
flowing water, whose mysterious depths appeared
to hold secrets never suspected by those who had
only seen it sparkling under the gay sunlight in
front of the castle. Then a shaft of greenish
_ light darted down from somewhere above, and
Maurice saw that they were at the foot of a
flight of stone steps rudely cut in the rock.

‘Come along,’ said Kelpie ; ‘ we shall have no
more dark now.’

Nix laughed, and both boys seemed as if
they would have liked to have chaffed Maurice,
but for some reason did not quite venture to do
so. They climbed about twenty steps, the light
growing more vivid as they: advanced, though
whence it came Maurice could not make out.
36 MAURICE : OR, THE RED JAR CHapP.



Then they turned to the left and ascended a
sloping passage of smooth white sand, with
brightly shining walls apparently covered with
phosphoric jelly-fish.

At the end of the passage was a curtain
of reeds and bulrushes. Kelpie pushed this
aside, and all three boys entered an immensely
long low hall, with a rugged rounded roof, and
lighted by means of its shining walls in the same
way as the passage. There was not much furni-
ture in the hall. The only carpets were some
rugs made of the skins of water-rats or voles,
and there were a large rough table and several
chairs made from stumps of willows and alders.
Festoons of ferns, bulrushes, and water-lilies
were hung round the walls as decorations, and
quite at the end was a kind of throne made of
rock-work and adorned with shining spar and
shells, on which sat the most extraordinary old
man conceivable.

The most curious thing was that every part
of him kept changing, so that it was next to
impossible to get a clear idea of what he was
really like. He had very long hair, but some-
times it seemed to be hair, sometimes rushes,

and sometimes seaweed, or else it was hair, with |
Iv. THE CAVERN 37



rushes or seaweed, or both, twisted into it
—nobody could have told which. Then
sometimes it was grey, sometimes light blue,
and sometimes pale green. In the same way
his long curly beard floated and shifted, vary-
ing every minute in hue and texture. His
nose was also long and hooked, and he twisted
it about almost as easily as his watery eyes,
which were like little ponds, and changed as
ponds do with every passing light and shade.
Fis mouth was hidden in his beard, but when
he opened it he showed glittering white teeth,
which every now and then seemed to change
into pieces of red coral. As to his dress,
except that it was long and flowing, Maurice
knew as much about it when he left as when
he came into the room. It appeared to have
been made out of a dry waterfall, if you can
imagine such a thing, and to ripple and rise
and fall and change its colour as a waterfall
does.

‘Here he is, grandfather!’ shouted Kelpie
and Nix both together, as they hastened towards
this remarkable being, dragging Maurice between
them.

‘Here is Maurice von Brinkman! We’ve
38 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



brought him home for tea and shooting,’ added
Kelpie.

‘You are welcome, Maurice von Brinkman,’
said the strange old man in a stratige voice, which
sounded as if a waterfall were speaking. ‘I am
glad to see you. I knew your great-grandfather
long ago.’

‘Then you will let Kelpie and Nix come to
see me, and I may tell my father and mother
about them?’ said Maurice, anxiously,

‘ By and by, my little man, by and by. There
are things little boys do not quite understand,
and things not to be spoken about. Now sit
down while Kelpie and Nix get tea ready.’

Kelpie and Nix did not wait to be told
twice. They darted away somewhere behind
the old man’s seat, but whether they went off
through another curtain, or through the solid
rock, or how, or where, the puzzled Maurice
could not make out. Much confused, he did as
the old man told him, and sat down on one of
the wooden chairs, while his host continued to
look at him with his changeful eyes, murmuring :
‘By and by, little man, by and by,’ as if the
words gave him peculiar satisfaction.

Before Maurice could make up his mind to
IV THE CAVERN 39



ask him any of the questions which he would
greatly have liked to have had answered, the
active youngsters returned carrying large baskets.
They proceeded to spread the contents on the
table, and these were as funny as everything else
about the place. It was too soon after dinner
for Maurice to feel hungry, but if he had been
ravenous he might have found it difficult to
think this feast very nice. There were several
kinds of shell-fish of all sorts of colours, and
they had all been stewed in a sort of muddy
sauce. Kelpie and Nix appeared to find this
sauce excellent, and were very anxious to give
Maurice an extra supply over his fish, telling
him that it was made from a particular fungus
which grew only in their cavern, and that he
would never find this delicacy anywhere else.
Maurice tried to conceal the satisfaction which
this statement gave him, and ventured to ask of
what some speckled cakes were made, which they
next pressed on his notice. They told him that
these were made of shells ground very small
mixed with the seeds of bulrushes, and that
the speckles were the wings and legs of small
water-flies. ‘We will give you the recipe if
you like,’ said they, in a fit of generosity.
40 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



‘Thank you so much,’ replied Maurice,
‘but I am afraid our cook is not so clever as
yours, and might spoil the cakes in the baking.’

The so-called tea itself was some green stuff
served in large shells; the unfortunate guest
tried to drink it, but failed utterly, when the
happy thought struck him to say to Nix: ‘Iam
afraid if we spend more time over tea I shall not
be able to stay for your shooting, and I want to
see that so very much.’

‘Right you are,’ exclaimed Nix; ‘though I
am afraid you'll be hungry, you’ve had so little
tea.’

‘Oh, you see I shall be back by our tea-time,
and after all I have only just had dinner.’

The grandfather, who had continued sitting
on his throne, and had paid very little attention
to the tea-party, aroused himself as soon as the
shooting was mentioned, and told the boys to
clear the table out of the way and fetch the bows
and arrows.

They did so with their usual activity, and
stuck up at the end of the hall an odd sort of
target. In the middle, by way of a bull’s eye,
was a small shell; this was surrounded by the
skin of a snail cut into a circle—that by a fish-


Tue YELLow Bow. To face p. 41.

Copyright 1894 by Macmillan & Co.
IV THE CAVERN 41



skin treated in the same way; then came the
skin of an eel ; lastly, strips from a weasel and an
otter respectively, the whole being mounted on
a leather background and propped on a stand
made of the bones of some marine animal un-
known to Maurice. The bows and arrows,
however, were such as he was accustomed to
use, and he brightened up and felt more at home
at the sight of them.

The boys stood at the far end of the hall, and
despite the strange light which puzzled him a
good deal, Maurice shot very well; at the end
of a match with his new acquaintance he came
off second, Kelpie having hit the bull’s eye
twice, he once, and Nix not having got nearer
than the snail-skin.

‘Very good,’ said the grandfather; ‘now
bring the yellow bow.’

Maurice watched eagerly, as after once more
retreating into the unseen background Kelpie
returned with a rather large bow, not peculiar
in fashion, but of a distinctly yellow colour.
The grandfather, who had hitherto contented
himself with watching their sport, now came
forward, took the bow into his hands, strung it,
placed the arrow on the string, and without
42 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



seeming to take any aim whatever let fly and
instantly transfixed the bull’s eye.

‘What a wonderful shot you are,’ exclaimed
Maurice.

‘You think so, do you?’ remarked the old
man. ‘Take this bow, Nix, and see what you
can do.’

Nix grinned, stood in his former place, and
without taking more trouble with his aim than
his grandfather had done was equally successful
at his first attempt with the yellow bow.

The old man, with a grim smile, turned to
Maurice: ‘A wonderful shot or a wonderful
bow? Which? You try with it now?’

Maurice grasped the bow, fitted an arrow,
and, like the other two, hit the centre shell
without the slightest effort. Kelpie then tried
his luck and did the same. ‘The experiment
was repeated two or three times by each of the
four marksmen, and nobody missed when shoot-
ing with the yellow bow.

‘A wonderful bow, I think,’ repeated the old
man. ‘Would you like to have it for your
own, youngster?’

Maurice crimsoned all over. ‘[—J—J——’
he stammered.
IV THE CAVERN a



‘Of course you would. Well, I’ll sell it to
you if you like.’

‘I am afraid I should never have pocket-
money enough ; I lost some this week,’ Maurice
replied, sorrowfully.

‘You don’t suppose I want your money, do
you?’

‘Oh, I beg your pardon, but you said you
would sell it to me.’

‘Is there nothing in your father’s house
except money?’

‘In my father’s house?’ Maurice, much
perplexed, began to think over the chairs, tables,
and pictures at the castle, and to wonder which
of those articles had taken the old man’s fancy.
Perhaps he wanted a stuffed, scarlet ibis, or an
image of a negro holding a lamp, both objects
much admired by the little boy.

‘Yes, there is one thing at the castle,’
resumed the grandfather, ‘which once belonged
to my family, and which I should like to have
again. Though it is not of much value, I would
give you this yellow bow for your very own if
you would bring it to me safe and sound.’

‘ What is it?” asked Maurice, doubtfully.

‘Only a red jar which stands on a shelf in a
44 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



cabinet in an empty room, I believe. It is never
used, and you could easily take it without its
being missed.’

‘I might ask mama for it,’ said Maurice,
with great hesitation ; ‘but I don’t believe she
would give it to me, and I could not steal it.’

‘Steal it! Why, how could it be stealing to
give me back what belonged to my family?’

‘If it belonged to your family, and they did
not give it or sell it to my father,’ replied
Maurice, more boldly, ‘I am sure he would
let me bring it back to you. He would
never keep what does not properly belong
to him.’

‘Nonsense,’ said the old man, impatiently.
‘Little boys, as I said before, don’t understand
everything. Your family and mine did not
always agree, and that’s why your father did not
want you to come up the river, and why I am
not anxious that he should know where you have
been. You may be sure that he would not send
me the jar if you asked him, as he would be
annoyed at your having been here. However, I
don’t want to quarrel—the red jar properly
belongs to me, yet I am quite willing to give a
fair exchange for it,—more than a fair exchange,
1V THE CAVERN 45



for a bow like that would make your fortune—
you could win the prize at every archery meet-
ing in the country. Never mind—take it or
leave it as you please.’

‘If there were anything else,’ began Maurice,
looking longingly at the bow.

‘There’s nothing else,’ growled the grand-
father.

‘And,’ put in Kelpie, ‘if you don’t want to
be late you ought to be going home now.’

‘So I ought,’ said Maurice, starting up.
‘Good-bye sir,’ he added, turning again to the
old man, ‘thank you very much for my pleasant
visit.’

‘Good-bye, young man, and remember what
Isay. ‘The bow is yours if you bring me the
red jar, not otherwise.’

As Maurice left the hall he heard the grand-
father muttering over and over again: ‘By
and by, little man, we shall see by and by.’

Kelpie and Nix unfastened the boat while
Maurice jumped into it, and taking it on either
side as before, they swam even more rapidly
down the stream than they had come up.
While darting along at so rapid a pace they

found breath to relate more marvels concerning
46 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR _ cuap. iv



the famous bow; and as they handed him his
oars, and said good-bye at the place of parting,
they exclaimed : ‘You shall have it and win the
silver horn if you will only bring grandfather
his red jar!”
CHAPTER V
THE RED JAR

‘Tue 14th, to-day, and the meeting is to be
on the sth of August,’ said Rudolf, ‘How
many more days for practice?’

‘Can’t you make that out for yourself?’
laughed Otto.

‘Never do anything for yourself if you can
get some one else to do it for you.’

‘Well, you won’t get any one else to do this
for you,’ chimed in Hans. ‘I want to shoot, not
to do sums ; we’ve enough of them in school.’

‘Where’s the young baron?’ asked Albert.

‘Don’t know,’ said Rudolf; ‘he’s rather
behind time to-day.’

‘He has not been shooting so well as usual
this week,’ remarked Otto ; ‘in fact I think he’s
out of sorts altogether,’
48 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



‘All the more chance for the rest of us,’
rejoined Hans. ‘I wish every one were out of
sorts except myself.’

‘That’s kind of you,’ retorted Albert, « but
we're not, you see; and fortunately, we don’t
depend on you to keep us in spirits, or we
might all go to sleep instead of shooting.’

‘Here’s the young baron,’ exclaimed Rudolf ;
‘now let’s get to practice. Good evening, sir,
we're just going to begin. Will you have first
shot ?’

‘Good evening, Rudolf, thank you; you go
on, you have your arrow all ready,’ said Maurice,
who had just arrived on the scene.

Poor Maurice does not look nearly so happy
this Friday evening as he did when we made his
acquaintance some ten days ago. An uncon-
fessed fault and a secret which should never
have been known are enough to trouble any
little boy, and Herr Karl is greatly puzzled to
account for the change in his merry little pupil.
His father tries in vain to cheer the boy with
all sorts of jokes, and his mother has decided to
consult the family doctor.

‘Now then, sir, it’s your turn,’ cried Rudolf,
who had just lodged an arrow in the white.


Vv THE RED JAR 49



Maurice took his bow and shot, but his arrow
was half an inch further from the centre than
Rudolf’s. Albert followed, and the other boys
each in turn. Rudolf remained ahead. ‘Then
each had a second shot, and Hans and Rudolf
were exactly equal. In the third round Albert
had slightly the advantage, but by the end of
the evening Rudolf had distanced all competitors,
Maurice and Hans tying for second place.

‘You must look up, Maurice,’ said Herr Karl,
as they walked home; ‘ Rudolf has shot distinctly
better than you this evening, and Hans and
Albert are pressing you very hard. Otto is not
far behind either.’

‘I know,’ answered Maurice, ‘but I am
determined to win the silver horn somehow.
You will see when the day comes.’

‘I hope I shall,’ said Herr Karl.

Maurice walked by his side, hardly answering
any further remarks, and turning over in his
little head the perpetual question, Would there
be much harm in taking the red jar? It is
strange that it did not strike him that, even if
he could have gained the yellow bow without
wrong-doing, it would have been decidedly
unfair to have used it to win a prize from boys

E
50 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



who were only shooting with ordinary bows.
No, Maurice did not think of that. He did,
however, know and think that he could not
touch, much less take, the jar without disobeying
the very clear orders which his mother had given
him. She had told him that he was never even
to go alone into the room where it stood, nor to
mention it to any one.

Yet the old man had declared that he had a
right to the jar. If so, would Maurice do so
very wrong in taking it back to him? And
then he would receive the bow, that beautiful
bow. How pleased his father and mother
would be when he hit the bull’s eye every time
and won the silver horn.

Maurice went to bed, but not to sleep ; his
mind was too full of these thoughts. At last
he sat up in bed and listened. ‘Yes, that was
his mother coming upstairs. She was sure to
come into his room as she passed it on her way
to her own. He popped down again, shut his
eyes, and pretended to be asleep. The Baroness
came in and bent over him. She did not kiss
him for fear of disturbing him, but she smoothed
his clothes, lingered for a minute or two, and
then went to her own rooms. Now the Baroness
v THE RED JAR 5



slept in a large bedroom, but as she was not
accustomed to ring for her maid at bedtime, she
generally left the gown she had worn during the
day in her dressing-room for the woman to fetch
in the morning. Maurice knew this, as he had
often seen the gown when he passed through the
dressing-room to go and give his mother a kiss
before she was up.

‘I wonder,’ he thought to himself, ‘ whether
mama leaves her keys in her pocket when she
takes off her gown? I expect she does some-
times. I am pretty sure that I have seen Elsie
bring them in when she comes to do mama’s
hair. Now let me think, there is a key on the
bunch which opens her desk, and a key in the
desk which opens the little drawer, and two keys
in the drawer, the big key which opens the door
of the room, and the little key which opens the
cabinet. How well I remember it all! I think
that’s rather clever of me. I’m sure mama need
not have expected me to wait till I was older
to know about the red jar. And the old man
was just as bad ; he said there were things little
boys did not quite understand. Of course they
don’t understand if grown-up people won’t tell
them what the things are. How stupid grown-
52 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP



up people are! When I am a man, I shall tell
my little boy everything, and I am quite certain
he will understand. I should like anyhow to go
and look at that red jar. If I had it in my
own hands, I daresay I could find out what there
is O precious and curious about it. If it really
belongs to the old man, perhaps his name is
written on it. I might go and see.’

Maurice lay still a little longer considering ;
then he began again arguing with himself. wonder if mama’s asleep by this time? There
could be no possible harm in going to look at
the jar. When mama told me not to go into
the room she never expected that I should hear
about the jar from any one else. Now, it is very
important that I should see it and examine it
properly. I must have a peep.’

Maurice got up and put on his dressing-
gown and slippers. He lit the hand-candle
which was on a little table near his bed, crept
quietly out of his own room and up to the
dressing-room door. There he paused, and
waited to hear if his mother were moving about,
and to see if any light shone through the chink
under the door. No, all was quiet and dark.
Very, very, softly he pushed the door open and
Vv THE RED JAR 53

peeped to see if there were any light under the
door between the dressing-room and bedroom.
No, not a glimmer.

Still, he thought his mother might not be
asleep, so he kicked off his slippers and left his
candle in the doorway while he advanced into
the room like a cat, or a thief. What a pity
that his father did not come up and catch him!
Unfortunately, the Baron was a very studious
man, and liked to sit reading in the library long
after the rest of the household had gone to bed,
while Herr Karl’s room was in another wing of
the castle. So that naughty Maurice, undis-
turbed by any older and wiser person, slipped
his hand into his mother’s pocket, pulled out her
keys, tried them till he found the one which
fitted the desk, took from it the key of the
drawer, unlocked that, and extracted the two
precious keys, that of the room-door, and that
of the cabinet! Possessed of these he regained
his slippers and candle and scurried down the
passage like a frightened rabbit till he reached
the door which he had only once before seen
opened. Here he paused. His heart was beat-
ing fast. Should he venture, or should he not?
‘Well,’ he thought, ‘since I have come so far I
54 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



will anyhow look at the jar, even if I don’t open
the cabinet.’

The lock of the door, being seldom used,
was a trifle rusty, and the key did not turn
easily and creaked. Unluckily—luckily, as
Maurice thought—there was no one near to
hear. With an effort he opened the door
and saw the cabinet in front of him. The
shutters in this room were not closed, and the
bright moonlight was streaming in, causing
cold ghost-like shadows to fall upon the floor.
Maurice fairly trembled. He was a brave
boy all the same, but on this occasion he did
not turn his bravery to good account. He was
determined now that he would examine the jar,
and forgot that the bravest thing would have
been to have resisted his own naughty wishes.

‘I must make haste before any one comes.’
‘Here goes,’ said he to himself, and walked
straight up to the cabinet. He found that the
lock of the upper part, protected, as before
said, with brass lattice-work, was above his
reach. He therefore placed his candle, now
dimmed by the moonlight, on one of the chairs,
and pulled the other up in front of the cabinet
so that he could stand upon it. Climbing up
v THE RED JAR 55

he placed the little key in the lock, turned it,
opened the latticed doors and took the jar into
his hands. It was about ten inches high, with a
small handle on either side, and seemed to be
made of dark red clay, baked, and polished very
smooth. Some kind of design or pattern was
moulded upon it, and Maurice got down from
the chair and went to the window to examine
this more closely. The design ran nearly all
round the jar ; it was not very distinct, but as far
as Maurice could make it out it represented a
river with trees, a waterfall, and an old man
seated at the foot of the waterfall.

‘Tt is rather like the boys’ grandfather,’ said
Maurice to himself, ‘only he seems to have
chains on his hands. Perhaps it is his likeness ;
if so, perhaps the jar does properly belong to his
family. . Well, I think I will take it back to my
room and look at it by daylight.’

Maurice placed the jar near the candle, jumped
on to the chair again, relocked the lattice, and
left the room carrying both the candle and the
jar. He placed them on the passage floor whilst
he fastened the door, and hurrying back to his
mother’s room restored the keys to the drawer,
the drawer key to the desk, relocked that with
56 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



the key on the bunch, and replaced the bunch in
his mother’s pocket.

Having regained his own room he hid the
red jar in a locker forming the window-seat
which contained his own particular treasures,
and with which no one else ever interfered.
Then jumping into bed and blowing out the
candle he quickly fell asleep, body and mind
being quite tired out.

Need I say that next afternoon saw Maurice
alone in the boat with the red jar hidden under
the seat in the stern? ‘The thought of the bow
had been quite too much for him now that he
had in his possession the price which the old
man had asked for it. His great anxiety was
_to know whether he should find Kelpie and Nix
at the usual corner, for he did not feel courageous
enough to row up to the cavern between those
dark rocks without them.

He need not have doubted. Those young
gentlemen had not forgotten that Saturday was
Maurice’s half-holiday, and were already on the
look-out for their comrade of the week before.
They saluted him with the usual ‘ Halloo!’ and
eagerly added :

‘Have you brought the jar?’
v THE RED JAR 57



>

‘Yes, but I don’t know if I ought

His hesitating words were interrupted with a
loud ‘Hurrah!’ from both boys, followed by
exclamations of, ‘ Be quick—let us see it. Well
done, how jolly of you!’

No sooner had Maurice rounded the corner
than they rushed to the side of his boat and leant
over to inspect the desired treasure.

‘That’s it,’ cried Kelpie—‘ first-rate. Now
come along to grandfather.’

They skimmed along with the boat as before,
fastened it once more to the landing-place, and
hurried Maurice through the dark passage and
up the stairs into the presence of their grand-
father.

‘Here he is, and he has brought the jar!
cried both at once. ‘See if it is the right one,’
cried Kelpie ; ‘and give him the bow if it is,”
added Nix.

The old man seemed to shift and change
more than ever, and his eyes glittered like
phosphorus in a tropical sea as he bent forward
and took the jar from Maurice’s hand.

‘It is the jar, the red jar!’ he exclaimed,
‘Bring the yellow bow here.’

Kelpie hastened to fetch it, and his grand-


58 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



father placed it in Maurice’s hand. The little
boy forgot for the instant all the faults which he
had committed to gain it, and all the trouble and
anxiety which had weighed on his mind during
the past week. He only thought with triumph
that now he should certainly be victor in the
archery match, that the silver horn would
assuredly be his own, and that all the spectators
would applaud him.

‘ By and by, little man, by and by,’ said the
old man all at once with a grim smile, as if he
read his thoughts.

‘Yes, grandfather,’ said Nix, suddenly starting
and catching hold of Maurice’s hand, ‘by and
by, not now: you promised to give us time to
get down the river.’

‘You will, won’t you, grandfather?’ cried
Kelpie, anxiously, seizing Maurice’s other hand,
in which he held the precious bow.

‘Very well, make haste then; I have waited
long enough already,’ growled the old man.

Kelpie and Nix, far from pressing Maurice
to stay this time, dragged him from the hall and
out of the cavern without allowing him time to
say good-bye, and without attending to his
questions as to the reason of their haste. More
v THE RED JAR 59



quickly than ever they swam with his boat to
the bend, and darted away shouting :

‘Take care! go home quickly! we’re sorry ;
but we had to do as he told us. Good-bye!
good-bye !
CHAPTER VI
THE BROKEN SPELL

‘Wuere is Maurice?’ asked Baroness von
Brinkman, coming into the schoolroom at the
castle about the same time that Maurice was
handing over the jar to the old man in the
cavern.

‘He has gone out in his boat,’ replied
Herr Karl, rising and laying down the book
which he was reading.

‘Oh, I am sorry,’ said the Baroness, ‘I meant
to have taken him for a drive.’

‘Perhaps he has not gone far,’ said Herr
Karl. ‘He often rows about just in front. Shall
I go and look?’

‘It would be very kind of you,’ answered the
Baroness. ‘I will go and put on my hat, and the
Baron and I will join you in the garden.’
CHAP, VI THE BROKEN SPELL 61



So saying, she left the room, and Herr Karl
went down to the steps at the bottom of the
garden to look if he could see anything of the
little boy.

‘How high the river is,’ he thought, as he
stood gazing vainly up and down the stream.
‘It is strange, for there has been scarcely any
rain lately. Look, Baron,’ he added, as the lady
and gentleman approached him, ‘is not the river
curiously high? I believe the water has risen
even since I have been standing here.’

‘ And see,’ said the Baroness—‘ Is that Maurice
in his boat rowing towards us? Why, the boat
seems to be swept along as if he could hardly
guide it.’

‘It is indeed,’ cried the Baron, ‘and the water
is rapidly rising. Mina,’ he added suddenly, ‘is
the talisman safe?’

‘T believe so,’ replied the Baroness, nervously.

‘Something has happened,’ returned her
husband. ‘Herr Karl, do not lose a moment.
Get the Baroness into the large boat, row off and
catch Maurice, and, if you are able to steady
yourself in the stream till I return, do so ; if not,
guide the boat as well as you can down te
Dickwald and take refuge there.’
62 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Herr Karl was beginning to speak, but the
Baron gave him no time to answer. He ran
with all speed into the castle, shouted to the
servants to save themselves as best they could
from the rising flood, and, rushing to the tall
centre tower, he tolled the alarm bell with all his
might and main. The inhabitants of the neigh-
bouring villages, warned by the sound, came
running to the castle, and the Baron shouted to
those who were foremost : ‘The river is rising
fast and will soon flood the whole property. Let
every one tell his neighbours and get to the boats
as quickly as possible. ‘There is not a moment
to lose.’

Having said this, the Baron caught up a desk
which contained some money and valuable
papers and dashed back into the garden, which
was already half under water. To his great
relief he saw that Herr Karl, who was a very
strong man, had managed to reach Maurice and
pull him into the big boat. The little boat had
been already whirled away out of sight, and was
probably dashed to pieces very speedily by the
waterfall below Dickwald. The yellow bow
had gone with it, for when the current began
to flow violently, which it did just after Kelpie
VI THE BROKEN SPELL 63



and Nix left Maurice, it was all that he could
do to clutch his oars and endeavour to guide the
boat in its wild course down the stream. His
strength was nearly exhausted when Herr Karl
came up and rescued him.

It was now no easy matter to get the boat
near to the steps to save the Baron also. Of
course he had to wade up to his waist in water,
and he was nearly swept away twice while stand-
ing on the lowest of the three steps, while Herr
Karl was struggling to steady the boat in the
water, which was now whirling and dashing about
like an arm of the sea in a storm.

Herr Karl asked the Baroness to hold the
boat-hook out to her husband, and bade Maurice
sit perfectly still till the Baron caught the hook
and pulled the boat near enough to enable him
to jump in. Just as he had done so, Bridget,
Maurice’s nurse, came running through the
water, and with great efforts they contrived to
drag her in also.

They were then obliged to let the boat go,
and guided it with the utmost difficulty towards
Dickwald.

The whole river was by this time full of
boats, sheep, cows, and floating pieces of furni-
64 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.

ture. Fortunately, most of the villages on the
Baron’s property were tolerably near the banks
of the river, so that a great many of the farmers
and cottagers kept boats, and were able to save
themselves and their neighbours in this sudden
deluge.

The curious thing was that the water only
overflowed on one side and turned all its fury
on to the Baron’s estate, leaving the fields and
meadows on the opposite shore high and dry.
It positively beat down the ground on the side
which it attacked, sweeping away the crops, the
houses, and the very earth itself. The castle
offered most resistance, being strongly built, and
standing on solid rock; but all was in vain.
The water rose in fierce waves against the walls,
poured into unsuspected crevices in the rock, as
if some vicious spirit were directing its labours,
and before next morning the whole building was
levelled with the ground. Pictures, china, furni-
ture, all Maurice’s books and toys, everything
was swept away. Some of the things floated
down and were caught at Dickwald and other
villages, but most were completely lost.

The large boat containing the Baron and his
companions was stopped at Dickwald, which
VI THE BROKEN SPELL 65



stood on the unflooded bank, and where all the
inhabitants were soon on the alert to save the
fugitives from being swept over the dangerous
waterfall below. Rudolf’s father and mother,
who were respectable tradespeople and had a
nice large house, begged the party to take refuge
with them for the night, which they were very
glad to do.

They were exceedingly anxious about the
fate of the remaining servants and villagers, and
were relieved to find them rapidly arriving in
the other boats belonging to the castle and to
the neighbours. The Baron and Herr Karl
stayed by the bridge which crossed the river
opposite Dickwald to help to stop the boats and
bring the people safely to land. Messengers
were sent for news to the villages further down,
and brought back word that as far as could be
made out all the inhabitants of the flooded dis-
trict were saved, though the bulk of their
possessions was lost.

By nightfall the violent rush of water had
ceased, and as the bright moon rose it was
evident that the whole of the Baron’s property
was one large unbroken lake. Not a house,

not a tree was to be seen as far as the eye could
F
66 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



reach ; only in the dim distance Maurice fancied
that he could distinguish the pine-topped rocks
which rose above the fatal cavern.

Several men having volunteered to remain on
watch all night in case of further alarm or need
for help, the Baron and Herr Karl wearily re-
entered the house, followed by Maurice, who
had remained with his father, though the latter
had been too busy to attend to him.

‘ Where is the Baroness, Frau Wetter?’ asked
the gentleman of his kind hostess.

‘The gracious lady is resting in the parlour,’
answered the good woman. ‘She was so sad
and weary that we saw she would rather be
alone, and we left her till your honour came in.’

‘Thank you very much, Frau Wetter ; I am
afraid we are giving you a great deal of trouble.’

‘Don’t mention it, Herr Baron. I only hope
this terrible flood will abate as quickly as it
arose and leave your beautiful estates even better
and richer than they were before.’

The Baron shook his head sadly. He knew
that there was no prospect of anything of the
sort, and once more thanking Frau Wetter he,
together with Herr Karl and Maurice, went
into the room which she pointed out.
VI THE BROKEN SPELL 67



‘Everybody is saved, I firmly believe,’ said
he, hastening to reassure his pale and anxious
wife.

‘That is indeed a mercy! Yet all these
poor people will be ruined, not to speak of our-
selves. What can have caused this dreadful
disaster ?’

‘What, indeed! You believe the red jar
was safe?’

Maurice started. What could that have had
to do with the matter?

“It was quite safe a day or two ago,’ replied
the lady. ‘I saw the keys of the room and of
the cabinet only this morning, and no one could
have got at them without stealing the bunch,
which is still in my pocket,’ she added, touch-
ing tt.

‘No one knew anything about either the
keys or the jar, did they?’ continued the Baron.

‘No one at all—yes!’ she exclaimed, recol-
lecting, ‘Maurice followed me without my
noticing him one day last week—but surely,
surely, Maurice, you never touched the jar after
all I said to you?’

The terrified boy could control his feelings
no longer. ‘Oh papa, oh mama,’ he sobbed,
68 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



bursting into tears, ‘I did—I gave it to the old
man. He said it belonged to his family, and he
gave me a bow which would be sure to win the
match in exchange.’

‘What old man? what have you done?’
exclaimed both parents at once.

Interrupted by many tears, and aided by the
questions of his horrified yet interested hearers,
Maurice gave a full account of his two visits to
the cavern, of his theft of the keys and jar, and
of the exchange of the latter for the yellow bow
which had tempted him to such deception, dis-
obedience, and dishonesty. When he had ended
his parents remained silent for a minute or two,
then his father said :

‘It is needless to scold or punish you,
Maurice. You have punished yourself only too
severely, and, alas! you have included in your
punishment not only your father and mother,
but hundreds of poor innocent people, who have
lost their property and their means of livelihood
in this fearful flood. The only rebuke which I
can give you is to tell you the story of the
winning of the red jar which you have just
lost.’

‘Perhaps, said Herr Karl, ‘as this is a
VI THE BROKEN SPELL 69



history relating solely to your family, I had
better leave the room while you tell it.’

‘No, pray stay,’ returned the Baron. ‘ You
have heard the story of Maurice’s fault and
have seen the consequences. It is only right
that you should know why such an action
should have had such terrible results. I can
depend upon you not to reveal the secret.’

‘Certainly, Herr Baron,’ replied Herr Karl,
and the Baron told the following tale.
CHAPTER VII
THE BARON’S STORY

‘I am not quite sure if you know the exact
formation of what was called the Valley of
Brinkman and is now a vast lake. You are
aware that the part on which the castle stood
—lI fear we shall find at daybreak that it stands
no longer—was not a valley, but fields and
meadows bounded by the river Brinkman, which
ran out of a cavern some little way higher up.
Below Dickwald, however, there is, as you well
know, a waterfall, and the land on the left or
Brinkman bank of the river suddenly sloped
there, so as to form a fertile valley. The right
bank, on the contrary, is a high wall of rock,
which will have entirely prevented the flood
from extending in that direction. The river then
continues in a circle with the rock wall on one
CHAP. VII THE BARON’S STORY qi



hand, and the now flooded valley on the other,
till it comes round again to the back of the
curious rocky hill in which the cavern is
situated, when it turns sharp off on its course
to the sea. The lands and Valley of Brinkman
could formerly only be reached by crossing the
river or by climbing over the Cavern Hill, which
is exceedingly steep and indeed precipitous.
‘Rather more than a hundred years ago this
district went by the common name of the
Haunted Valley, both high and low ground
being included in the same term. ‘There were
then neither bridges nor boats, and the country
people did not care to approach too closely the
banks of the river which washed the high
ground, nor the steep cliffs which overlooked
the lower part. The upper land looked cold
and desolate and was generally overhung by a
thick fog. Below the waterfall it was said that
strange and uncouth monsters crawled out of
the river and dragged their ‘slimy way through
the rank grass and reeds of the marshy vale.
A few daring people had approached the top of
the rocks near the right bank of the source, and
had seen enough to know that the river, then
called the Round River, issued from the cavern ;
72 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



no reward would have induced them to go
near to that cavern, or to attempt to scale the
rocky hill which contained it.

‘You have heard that your great-great-grand-
father, Sir Maurice von Brinkman, received these
lands from the king as a reward for his gallant
services in defending the country against a
foreign invader ; but you have never heard the
full story of the gift, nor how it was secured and
held to the present time ; and this I am about to
tell you.

‘When the war was over and the invader
repulsed, the nobles and knights who had distin-
guished themselves were summoned before the
king to receive the honours and more substantial
rewards which they had respectively deserved.
Sir Maurice came amongst the rest. When the
king saw him he said :

«Sir Maurice, you have rendered the greatest
services of all. You held the frontier castle of
Streifner against assault and famine when all
others said that surrender was absolutely neces-
sary, and you captured, single-handed, the giant
leader Thornwald, who had killed every champion
who was sent against him. I bid you therefore
name your own reward.”
VII THE BARON’S STORY 73



‘« Sire,” returned Sir Maurice, ‘I only did
my duty. My sword is ever at my sovereign’s
command. Since, nevertheless, you deign to bid
me ask a favour at your hands, I ask for the
land encircled by the Round River and enclosed
by the Cavern Hill.”

‘Jn sooth, sir knight,” replied the king,
“you ask for what is hardly mine to give. The
land you speak of is that which men call the
Haunted Valley. Though it lies within the
precincts of my kingdom it is inhabited by fear-
some monsters, and none dare cross the river
or climb the Cavern Hill to enter within its
borders.”

‘**T know this well my liege,” said Sir
Maurice, “yet I ask of your grace permission to
force my way into that land, to cleanse it of the
monsters begotten from the river and the marsh,
to win it for my king, and, if it be his will, to
hold it from him as a vassal of the Crown.”

‘“Surely, Sir Maurice,” said the king, once
more, ‘‘ you seek rather to do me a grace than
to take one at my hands. If you cleanse that
dreary territory and fit it for the use of man,
you do well by all my subjects ; and it shall
assuredly be yours to have and to hold as a
74. MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



baron of the kingdom, free from all charge and
dues save the feudal service which a good knight
will always render at his liege’s need.”

‘Sir Maurice thanked the monarch, and left
his presence full of hope and glee. Though
nobly descended, he was but the younger son of
a younger son. His parents were both dead,
and had left him no land and little wealth. He
had been brought up as page to a noble lady, and
had in due course become a squire, and won in
battle the gold spurs of a knight. At the
present time, however, his good horse, his sword
and armour, constituted nearly all his riches.
The booty which had fallen to his share in the
late war he had generously divided amongst his
followers, and he now dismissed them to seek
service with some wealthier leader while he set
off alone to encounter the dangers of the Haunted
Valley.

‘He arrived the same evening at a little
wood near the Cavern Hill ; and, as darkness was
drawing on, he fastened his horse to a tree and
determined to sleep there that night and proceed
with his undertaking at daybreak on the
following morning. He had brought some
bread and meat with him, and had just seated
VII THE BARON’S STORY 75



himself on the ground prepared to begin his
supper, when an old woman came up to him
carrying a bundle of sticks.

‘*Good evening, mother,” said Sir Maurice,
observing that she stopped and looked at him
with some earnestness.

‘“ Good evening, sir knight,” replied the old
woman ; ‘‘methinks you are a bold gallant to
tarry so near the Cavern Hill.”

‘« Well, mother, you set me a good example,
since you are lingering here at sunset.”

«« Tam old and my bundle is heavy, young
man, else I should be further on my way.”

‘« carry it for you, mother. Is your house far
off?”

‘« A little way within the wood. I accept
your courtesy,” answered the woman, giving him
the bundle.

Sir Maurice slung it over his shoulder and
followed the dame who walked more rapidly
than he could have expected from her appear-
ance. She led the way, first through a thick
tangled undergrowth, and then amidst some tall
firs, which stood like sentinels in a grassy glade.
In a few minutes they arrived at a little hut
76 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



where they were greeted by two brown and two
grey hares, who ran forward to meet them, and
seemed delighted to see their mistress.

‘The old woman caressed them, bade them
be quiet, and taking the burden from the knight
invited him to enter the hut.

‘“«T must not stay,” he remarked, “ for I
have left my horse tied to the tree, but I will
come in for a moment and see if I can help you
further.”

“« You have a good heart,” said the sibyl.
“Tt is now my turn to help you. Come in and
do not be too proud to learn from an old
woman.”

‘Sir Maurice smiled at the idea of any help
which she could give him, but not wishing to
hurt her feelings went into the little dwelling.
All was dark and dreary till the hostess struck
a light with a flint and steel, and kindled a fire
on the hearth. She then asked suddenly :

‘« Are you going to try and enter the
Haunted Valley to-morrow? ”

‘Sir Maurice was somewhat taken aback,
and doubted for an instant whether it were wise
to confide his intentions to this stranger. He
did not, however, think it the part of a knight


‘He loves to wander in the valley and to tend the hideous animals who spring
from the river and the marsh” —« To face p. 77.

Copyright 1894 by Macmillan & Co.
vir THE BARON’S STORY 77.



to lie, so after a moment’s hesitation, he an-
swered :

«« Yes, I intend to do so.”

‘«Tisten then to my advice, and remember
my words. The monsters who haunt the
valley are all the creatures of one master. His.
name is Querquex. He is forever changing his
shape, and his home is the cavern within yonder
hill. He loves, however, to wander in the valley
and to tend the hideous animals who spring
from the river and the marsh. . You cannot
kill him, for no mortal weapon may slay him ;
but if you slaughter every monster which attacks
you, and never know fear, you will at length
drive their master back into the cavern. There
he keeps his terrible water-dogs, the fiercest of
all his troops. If you can conquer them you
may bind Querquex, and then you must refuse
to set him free till he has given you his red
jar. With that in your possession you and
your descendants can hold the valley and live
there in peace and safety. Querquex will
continue to live in the cavern, but will be
unable to come forth or harm you. Only, if
you win in this struggle, you must hand down
my words to your descendants, for should
78 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Querquex ever regain the talisman, all that you
have done will be useless, and desolation will
sweep back over the valley.”

‘Sir Maurice, greatly astonished, thanked the
old woman for her counsel and prepared to leave.

““T see,’ she said, “that you only half
believe me. I give you this advice as a reward
for your kindness to an old woman, and when
you find all happening as I say, you will know
that my words are true. This bottle contains a
fatal liquid, which you may use when the foes
you meet are such as knightly weapons could
not overcome. This cord, which was round the
wood which you carried, will serve to bind your
enemy. Take oe gifts; ; farewell, and may fair
fortune attend you.’

‘With courteous thanks and eeecers the
knight left the hut, returned to his horse, and
flinging himself on the ground slept soundly
till daybreak.

‘The sun had barely risen when Sir Maurice
rode up to the foot of the Cavern Hill and
looked carefully to see if there were any path by
which his horse could possibly scale it, if led by
the bridle. He chose the most favourable spot,
and, dismounting, began to clamber up followed
VII THE BARON’S STORY 79



by the intelligent animal. It was no easy task,
and he often began to think that it would be
necessary to tie his horse to some branch or
projecting root and to continue the ascent alone.
Knights in those days, however, were always
averse to fighting on foot so long as they could
retain their horses ; and Sir Maurice was, more-
over, very unwilling to abandon his faithful
steed to the unknown perils of such an ill-famed
neighbourhood.

‘ At last, after many difficulties, both man and
horse reached a comparatively flat spot on the
top of the hill, and paused to take breath. Sir
Maurice then, still holding his horse’s rein,
advanced towards what seemed to be the edge of
a precipice descending into the valley ; but just
as he was approaching the brink, a sudden fog
fell like a curtain before him, and he was obliged
to stand still for fear of making a false step, and
being precipitated to the bottom.

‘Much perplexed, he looked round on every
side, only to perceive that the fog overhung the
whole valley, making the attempt to descend into
it almost certain death. Behind him the road
by which he had climbed up was still clear, but
he never for a moment thought of retreat.
80 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



‘While he stood debating in his mind what
course he had better pursue, strange phantoms
began to appear in the mist ; some looked like the
faces of old men, some like those of fierce beasts,
some had round eyes and beaks like birds. Some
grinned, some scowled, and some distorted their
features as if they were mocking him. For a
time they were speechless, and kept alternately
appearing and disappearing, till at length one
began : “Go back, go back,” and another chimed
in, ‘“ Beware, beware,” till a thousand voices took
up a moaning chorus :

“Beware! rash man, nor dare thy fate,
The spell is strong, the whirlpools roar,
The cliffs are steep that bar the gate,
Who meets our master parts no more.”

‘« J defy your master!” shouted Sir Maurice.
“Be he man or magician, he is a coward to wrap
himself up.in this mantle of mist. Let him
throw it aside, and I will descend into the
valley and meet him and all his crew. Is he
with his brood of monsters afraid of a single
knight?” :

‘There was a pause, and then the doleful
chorus began again :
t

VII THE BARON’S STORY 81



“‘ Beware! rash man, thy words are high,
Thy sword is keen, thine arm is strong ;
But mortal man may fight to die,—
Not so the lord of yonder throng.”

‘« If he may not be slain,” cried Sir Maurice,
‘the more coward he to hide himself. Once
more I defy him. I only ask to see my enemy,
and I will encounter him in whatsoever shape he
may appear.”

‘For the last time and more faintly, the
chorus arose :

“We warn no more, thou reckless knight,
Of life and all its joys despair ;

Behold! and dread the gruesome sight !
The death thou darest waits thee there.”

‘As the last words died away, the fog lifted
as suddenly as it had fallen, and a truly fearful
spectacle presented itself. A steep, though not
absolutely impossible path wound down the
precipice; this was guarded on either side by
rows of gigantic animals resembling gorillas,
bearing clubs in their long sinewy hands, and
evidently prepared to dash out the brains of any
hero who might try to run the gauntlet between
their lines.

‘Even if by some extraordinary chance he
G
82 MAURICE: OR; THE RED JAR CHAP.



should pass them alive, a still more terrible
ordeal awaited him at the foot of the path.
There the whole army of indescribable monsters
was drawn up in battle array, with their lord at
their head.

_ ‘The first two lines were composed of river-
griffins, strange beasts with long scaly tails and
pointed wings, then came a battalion of dragons,
then two regiments, one of warriors with croco-
diles’ heads and lions’ bodies, and the other
reversing the arrangement, as its ranks were
formed of lions’ heads attached to the bodies
of crocodiles. Lastly, came a crowd which
seemed more dreadful than any of the others,
for it was made up of spiders as big as elephants,
and of colossal insects, mosquitoes as large as
giraffes, dragon-flies the size of tigers, and
others which Sir Maurice’s limited knowledge
of entomology did not enable him to identify.

‘In the centre of the crowd rode the terrible

Querquex. He appeared on this occasion like
a gigantic skeleton, with a towering helmet on
his head made entirely of hornets all clinging
together, and glittering in the sunlight which
now succeeded the mist. A robe made of
millions of moths’ wings fell from his bony
VIL THE BARON’S STORY 83

shoulders and swept over the flanks of the fierce
river-horse which he rode. The upper part
of this courser was like an ordinary, though
very large, horse, but instead of legs he had
six immense webbed flappers. These, though
very useful for swimming in the river, made
his movements on land awkward and ungraceful.

‘ As the whole scene broke on the astonished
gaze of Sir Maurice, Querquex, brandishing a
weapon which was something between a sword
and a saw in one hand, and a javelin in the
other, shouted in a voice like water plunging
from a rock:

‘«T accept your challenge, oh, braggart knight!
Come down, make good your words, and die.”

‘Without a moment’s hesitation Sir Maurice
cried back : “I come down, but not todie!” and
vaulting on his horse’s back dashed between the
ranks of the gorillas.

‘With a fearful yell the monstrous apes began
with one accord to swing their clubs at him, and
had it not been for the speed of his gallant

‘charger Favonius he must have been felled to
the ground and instantly slain. Favonius, how-
ever, flew so quickly down the path that half
the blows which rained on him and his master


84. MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



missed their aim altogether, and the remainder
were deprived of their full effect. Sir Maurice,
meantime, swung his sword to right and left,
slaying many of the monsters, and wounding
others, so that their yells of defiance were
quickly changed to shrieks of agony and fear.
Though considerably bruised, Sir Maurice and
his horse arrived at the foot of the precipice
without serious injury, and the former quickly
noticed that the griffins at least were a trifle
dismayed at the sudden and rapid descent of an
enemy. ‘I'he words of the sibyl flashed through
his mind, “If you never know fear ;” and it
struck him that the array of monsters drawn
up against him, however formidable in appear-
ance, might be totally unaccustomed to any sort
of fighting.

‘With renewed confidence he charged into
their ranks, and with the utmost presence of
mind he observed that the griffins while hitting
out with their paws always drew their pointed
wings forward to protect their necks.

‘These were evidently their sensitive points,
so he struck with his sword at the neck of every
erifin he could reach, raising his shield at the
same time to ward off the blows of their paws.
VI THE BARON’S STORY 85



His success was complete. One blow at a
griffin’s neck was sufficient to lay him a corpse
at the feet of Favonius,! and the first two lines
were promptly in the utmost disorder, some of
the surviving griffins taking to ignominous flight,
and the remainder falling back on the dragons
behind them. The long tails of the griffins hit
the dragons in their faces and annoyed them
greatly, so they began to vomit forth their usual
supply of fire and smoke before Sir Maurice
came up to them, to dart out their forked
tongues, and to lash out with their own formid-
able tails in order to get those of the griffins out
of the way.

‘Maurice thought the best plan was to kill
half a dozen dragons by hitting them on their
heads in passing, and then to leave them
entangled with the griffins, and confused by
the cloud of smoke and flame which they had
raised themselves, whilst he made straight for
the lion-crocodiles and crocodile-lions.

‘These also appeared a good deal disturbed by
the slaughter which had taken place in the front

' This information, not to be found in modern Military
Handbooks, is very useful to recollect in case you should
ever encounter a river-griflin.
86 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



ranks. Still encouraged by the shouts of
Querquex from behind, they closed in from
either side, and a lion-headed crocodile ran at
Sir Maurice from the right just as a crocodile-
headed lion charged him on the left. He was
in the greatest danger, when the brave Favonius
gave the crocodile head a violent kick which
caused him to swerve, and Sir Maurice severed
the lion head from the crocodile body at the
same moment.

‘The other dual animals came on with much
less vigour. Favonius, emboldened by his first
success, kicked out in all directions, and Maurice
cut off three or four more lions’ heads, with the
result that both regiments turned tail and scurried
off to their native marshes.

‘ Querquex, now perfectly frantic at the defeat
of his vanguard, called in some unknown tongue
to his insect battalions, evidently ordering them
to charge all at once, and crush this insolent
knight and his equally intrusive horse.

‘A wild and discordant war-cry arose from
the ranks ; the spiders hissed like hurricanes, the
mosquitoes hummed like organs, the dragon-flies
buzzed like thunder, and the other creatures
shricked and screamed and roared, till the
VII THE BARON’S STORY 87



Cavern Hill seemed to rock with the disturbance
of the atmosphere.

‘Even Favonius paused for a moment, and
his limbs quivered. Sir Maurice was too excited
either to stop or to tremble. Never had his mind
been more on the alert. He drew something
from his bosom, knocked the top against his
sword hilt, broke it and threw the contents
right and left in all directions. It was the
old woman’s bottle! The effect was instant-
aneous.

‘The clamour ceased in a moment, and the
colossal insects sank on the earth in a sleep like
death. Nothing remained save for Favonius to
trample them with his hoofs, and for the knight
to dispatch them with his sword.

‘The old woman, who knew of the insect
body-guard, had toiled for years to prepare a
stupefying concoction sufficiently powerful to
affect these monstrous pests, and had only
waited to meet with a champion daring enough
to confront them with the contents of the bottle.

‘ Querquex and his river-horse alone remained,
face to face with Sir Maurice and Favonius.

‘The combat in this case lasted but a few
seconds. The prowess already shown by the
88 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



knight had thoroughly frightened Querquex, who
was much more crafty than brave. As for the
river-horse he was no good at all on dry
ground. Favonius wheeled round him, snorting
and enjoying the fun, while he flopped and
waddled about, and at length fairly turned tail
and made off without awaiting guidance from
his master, who was, moreover, only too pleased
to have such a good excuse for running away.

‘Sir Maurice remembered that his adviser
had told him that as he could not kill Querquex
he must pursue him to the cavern and bind him
there; so he allowed him to escape to the river,
where the clumsy steed plunged into the water
and swam quickly towards his place of refuge.

‘Sir Maurice followed along the bank, and
with some trouble discovered a little track lead-
ing over the spur of the hill which projects and
conceals the entrance to the cavern.

‘Once more he thought he should have to
leave Favonius behind, yet hardly dared to do
so, for until he could bind Querquex and get the
talisman from him he could not be sure that
some of the remaining monsters would not re-
cover from their terror and come and attack the
horse in his absence.
VII THE BARON’S STORY 89



‘He managed, therefore, to surmount this
difficulty also, and to get Favonius over the
rocks and on to the landing-place which you,
Maurice, have described. Here the baying of
the water-dogs showed plainly enough where
lay the entrance to their master’s abode, and,
indeed, they did not long wait his approach, but
dashed out meaning to tear him to pieces.

‘Sir Maurice was glad that they did so, for
it was much easier to fight them in the light
than it would have been in the darkness of the
cavern.

‘There were four of them, as big as ponies,
and as fierce as mastiffs. Though less unnatural
in appearance than the monsters in the valley,
they were much braver, and Sir Maurice received
two or three wounds from their teeth before he
was able to kill them all, which, nevertheless,
he finally accomplished.

‘He then made his way into the cavern,
seized Querquex, who had now taken the form
of the old man, whom you knew as the boys’
grandfather, and bound him. He begged for
mercy, and Sir Maurice demanded as the price of
his freedom the red jar which conveyed to its
owner full rights over the Haunted Valley,—
go MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cuap. vu



henceforth, by the king’s authority, to be known
as the Valley of Brinkman.

‘Querquex, as the old woman had said, could
not be compelled to leave the cavern, but he
would be restrained from coming forth or from
injuring any one so long as Sir Maurice and his
descendants should hold and safeguard the red
jar.
CHAPTER VIII
THE OLD WOMAN

Maurice had been so absorbed in listening to
this narrative of the deeds of his great-great-
grandfather that he had almost forgotten, till
the Baron stopped speaking, what a sad ending
he himself had added to such a brave beginning.
When, however, his father spoke, in conclusion,
of the descendants who were to ‘hold and safe-
guard the red jar,’ the bitter thought of the
descendant who had lost by disobedience what
his ancestor had won by bravery, rushed back
upon the little boy, and he bowed his head with
his eyes full of tears.

Pitying his distress, his mother spoke more
cheerfully.

‘You remember,’ said she, ‘the picture in
the hall of Sir Maurice and his black horse,
92 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



and the hoof of Favonius mounted in silver
which stood on the library table?’

‘Yes, mama,’ replied Maurice; ‘and what
became of the rest of the animals, papa?’

‘Oh, after their master lost the red jar, and
with it all his power over the valley, they gave
very little trouble. The insects were all dead
already, the remaining griffins and dragons
quarrelled and killed each other, so did the
crocodile-lions and lion-crocodiles. As for the
gorillas they seem to have been disgusted with
the whole proceeding, for they all disappeared.
Most likely they went to Africa.’

‘And the river-horse ?’

‘Nobody interfered with him, poor old thing.
He lived with Querquex in the cavern, and went
out swimming on fine days in the river, just in
front, till he died a few years later.’

‘How did Sir Maurice get rid of the fogs?’
asked Herr Karl.

‘He drained the marshy land and they soon
disappeared. When the king had fully con-
firmed his grant of the territory, Sir Maurice let
it out to farmers, who improved it so much that
the valley ere long became the most fertile spot
in the kingdom. Sir Maurice grew rich, built
VII THE OLD WOMAN 2 93



the castle, and married a beautiful lady. His
son was my grandfather.’

The Baron sighed, and all were silent for a
few minutes. Then Maurice summoned up
courage to ask: ‘Did my Bee great -grand-
father see the old woman again?

‘He went at once to look for her, and
thanked her warmly for her aid. She repeated
her warning, and told him that it was probable
that if the red jar ever fell again into the hands
of Querquex he would break it in his fury, and
thus unchain a flood which would destroy the
whole valley. She added, as I have been told:
“What valour has won, virtue must preserve.
This is not my home ; I came here on a mission,
now happily ended, and you will probably never
see me again.” All her words have been ful-
filled.’

‘You have forgotten,’ observed the baroness,
‘that she also said, “I shall watch over your
family from afar, and he who strives to do right
may seek me in time of need.”’

Maurice looked up eagerly at this, but his
father again sighed heavily, and replied: ‘Ah
well, those were kindly words, but the old woman
must be dead this many a long year.’
94 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cHap,

‘Not if she were a fairy,’ observed Maurice,
timidly.

The Baron smiled sadly, and remarked : never heard it suggested that she was a fairy,
and even if she were, how should we know where
to find her? She has not been seen or heard of
in these parts for over a hundred years. I do
not know so much as her name. Besides, she
only promised help to one “ striving to do right.”
She did not offer to put straight the effects of
wrong-doing.’

Maurice coloured deeply, and the Baroness
said that they must stop talking, as they were all
very tired and it was quite time for bed, so they
retired to rest after the troubles and excitements
of the day.

Things did not look much brighter when
daylight enabled them to see the full extent of
the devastation, and to estimate the ruin which
had befallen many hundreds of people.

The Baron had a little money in the bank,
and he tried as far as he could to help the poor
farmers and others, who had so lately been his
tenants, to go and look for land or work else-
where.

The neighbours, rich and poor, rendered all
VU THE OLD WOMAN 95



the assistance in their power. The archery
meeting was given up, partly as a token of
sympathy, and partly in order to devote the
money which would have gone in prizes and
other expenses to the relief of the victims of the
flood. The serious question remained, What
were the Baron and Baroness and Maurice to do
in the future?

Their friends and relations wrote offering
help, but the Baron was very unwilling that he
and his family should live on the charity of
others. He would only consent to spend
a short time with a cousin, who had always
been his particular friend, till he could decide
on the best means of supporting himself and
educating Maurice for some profession. He
accepted the invitation of good Frau Wetter to
remain at her house at Dickwald till the end of
the week, as that would give him the opportunity
of inquiring into the troubles and plans of the
people he wanted to help, and also of collecting
and arranging the few remnants of his possessions
which were still being rescued from the water.

Herr Karl was to stay till the Brinkmans had
left the place, and then to go to his own home,
and look out for another pupil.
96 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



On the Tuesday following the flood, Maurice
and his friend Rudolf were sitting in a rather
melancholy frame of mind on the bank of the
river, or rather, as we should now say, lake,
nearly opposite the spot where the castle used to
stand.

‘So it is settled that you leave us on Satur-
day for good and all, sir?’ said Rudolf.

‘Yes,’ replied Maurice; ‘we are going to
my father’s cousin, Count Bestern. It is a long
way off. I wonder if I shall ever see Dickwald
and all of you again?’

‘Oh yes, you will make your fortune some-
how. You will become a soldier, and conquer
the enemy, and the king will give you a great
reward, as I have heard that the former king did
to your ancestor, the first Baron von Brinkman.
Then you will come back here, and we will all
be as happy as we were before!’

‘It was easier to fight and win great rewards
in those days, I think,’ said Maurice, not very
cheerfully. ‘ Look, Rudolf, how gloomy it all
is!—-a great lake which we cannot see across,
and just the bare ridge of rocks beyond the
waterfall.’

‘And the Cavern Hill on the other side,’
VII THE OLD WOMAN 97



returned Rudolf. ‘It looks gloomy enough with
the dark pines on the top and on those two spurs
where the water runs out. They tell queer
stories about that hill.’

‘Do they? what stories?’ asked Maurice,
rather confused.

‘Well, you know there’s a cavern inside the
hill out of which the river flows. Nobody has
ever gone into it, and nobody would care to try,
for they say that sorcerers and witches and
savage dogs live there, who would tear any one
to pieces who came to see the treasures they are
guarding. I don’t know if it’s true; if 16 15,
I should not wonder if they had something to
do with this horrid flood,’

‘Did you ever go to the other side of the
hill?’ said Maurice. ‘I almost always rode and
walked within the river, and I know very little
of the places beyond.’

‘Yes,’ answered Rudolf, ‘I have been. I
don’t know that there’s much to see. There’s
a little wood, mostly of tall firs; folks tell
stories about it too.’

‘What do they say?’ inquired Maurice, with
some eagerness.

‘Nothing very wonderful. They say that an

H
98 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



old woman comes there sometimes—always the
same old woman for hundreds of years; when-
ever she comes she carries a bundle of wood, and
four hares come to meet her—two brown and
two grey. She never stops, and when she goes
the hares disappear also. Nobody knows when
she will come or what she comes for. It is
always in the twilight, and folks are afraid to
speak to her. It is not much of a story, you
see, for nothing happens in consequence.’

‘No,’ replied Maurice, thoughtfully, ‘there
does not seem to be much in it. Rudolf,’ he
added, suddenly, ‘would you mind lending me
your pony this evening?’

‘Certainly, you shall have it,’ said Rudolf.
‘Shall I borrow another and come with you for
a ride, or shall I ask father to lend his horse to
Herr Karl ?’

‘No, thank you very much,’ answered Mau-
rice. ‘Flerr Karl has gone to the town with my
father and mother on business, and they will
none of them be back till very late. I think, if
you don’t mind, I should like to have a ride
alone and think it all over, as we are going away
so soon.

Rudolf, who was a very kind boy, understood
vi THE OLD WOMAN 99



this, and readily agreed that Maurice should
have the pony as he wished, between five and
six o’clock that evening.

Maurice started on his solitary ride with a
heavy heart, and yet with a faint hope that
something might come of his enterprise. He
had ventured to ask his parents why they had
never explained to him the real value of the
red jar, and the extreme danger of the upper
part of the river. They answered that they
were afraid, whilst he was so young, that he
might in an unguarded moment let out the
secret of the jar, and that some dishonest or
curious person might take advantage of the
knowledge and endeavour to steal the treasure.
As regarding the river, they did not wish to
make him uneasy by the thought of an enemy
so near at hand. Moreover, they added sadly,
they had hitherto believed that he would have
obeyed their distinct orders even without under-
standing all their reasons. Maurice thought
over these things as he rode along, and more and
more earnest became his wish to remedy the
terrible misfortunes which he had caused.

The Cavern Hill was about eight miles from
Dickwald ; and it was nearly seven o’clock when
100 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Maurice reached the little wood of which his
father and Rudolf had spoken. The sun was
already low in the heavens, and the little boy’s
heart beat fast as he got off the pony and stood
leaning against a tree waiting, he hardly knew
for what, and repeating again and again to him-
self the words which his mother had added to
the Baron’s account of the old woman: ‘I shall
watch over your family from afar, and he who
strives to do right may seek me in time of need.’

‘I know I have been naughty,’ thought the
poor boy, ‘but now I would do anything I
possibly could to help my father and mother
and the poor people I have ruined.’

Hardly had the thought passed through his
mind when a little scratching close by made him
turn his head suddenly, and he saw a grey hare
nibbling a fern leaf. As he watched, another
appeared, and then two brown ones joined the
party. The little creatures were wonderfully
tame, and Maurice looked eagerly to see whether
there were any signs of their mistress. Presently
the hares ran forward a little towards the interior
of the wood, then turned their heads in his
direction, then ran on again, and then for the
second time stopped.
VIL THE OLD WOMAN IO1



‘I do believe they mean me to follow
them,’ said Maurice to himself, and taking the
pony’s bridle in his hand he led him after the
hares.

The hares seemed quite satisfied, and con-
tinued to gambol in front of Maurice and the
pony, advancing as they played, but never
getting out of sight.

In a few minutes they reached an open space
amongst the firs, and there, to Maurice’s surprise
and delight, stood the old woman, carrying the
wood. He never doubted for a minute that
this was the counsellor he had come with the
forlorn hope of meeting, so he hastened up to
her and said at once :

‘Kind lady, I am Maurice von Brinkman,
the great-great-grandson of the Maurice you
helped before. Please help me. I will strive
to do right, and this is the time of need.’

The old woman smiled gravely and said :
‘My boy, why should you think that I am the
helper of your ancestor? Surely many old
women may have lived and died and gathered
wood here in over a hundred years.’

‘Yes, but they had not four hares, and they
did not look like you. I am certain sure that
102 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



you are the friend of our family, and that you
can help me—only say you will.’

The old woman smiled more cheerfully this
time as she answered : ‘ Perhaps I can help you
to help yourself.’

‘And my father and mother and the other
people,’ said Maurice. ‘I don’t care so much
about myself; only it doesn’t seem fair that
they should suffer for my fault.’

‘My dear boy,’ replied the old woman, < you
are learning now that one cannot do wrong
in this world without making other people
suffer.’

‘Then,’ said Maurice, ‘can I make them
happy again by doing right?’

‘If you do right, that will certainly be a
great happiness to your parents ; but to undo all
the harm which you have just done will be no
easy task.’

‘I don’t care how hard it is,’ asserted Maurice ;
‘it cannot be harder than what Sir Maurice
did.’

‘Sir Maurice was a grown-up man, and the
bravest knight of his time,’ said the old woman.
‘A little boy like you could not overcome an
army of monsters, and if you could, that would
VIL THE OLD WOMAN 103



not put matters straight. What was lost by
disobedience can only be regained by obedience.’

‘ By obedience!’ exclaimed Maurice. ‘I am
sure I will never be disobedient again. That
sounds easy, but rather long and dull, and I
don’t see how it will help my father.’

‘Long and dull, perhaps, but not easy,’
replied the woman. ‘Listen to me: Querquex
has broken the red jar, and the waters of the
cavern have flooded all your father’s property.
They can never be turned back,—what is now
the Brinkman lake can never be drained, unless
another red jar is made exactly like that which
you gave to your father’s enemy. Now sucha
jar can only be made of earth given by the
Earth-King, mixed with water from the King of
the Sea, and baked in fire brought from the Fire-
King. Each king will only give the necessary
gift to one who will work for him for a year
and a day without once disobeying his com-
mands. For three years and three days you
would have to work as a slave in dark and
strange places. Do you think that would be
easy?’

‘JT will do it—indeed I will!’ cried Maurice.
‘Let me go at once!’
104 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



‘Without your parents’ permission?’ said
the old woman. ‘Is that the beginning of
obedience?’

Maurice hung his head sorrowfully.

‘They will never let me go,’ said he.

The-old woman paused. At last she said:
‘Tell your father and mother to come here at
this hour to-morrow evening. Perhaps I may
persuade them to give their consent. They
must come alone, and then, if they agree, you
must come the evening after, ready to set out.
You must tell nobody except your father and
mother that you have seen me, and you must
submit to their decision, whatever it may be.
Now go; it is getting late, and you must not
alarm them by failing to return.’

Maurice rode home as fast as he could and
found that his parents and Herr Karl had just
returned from the town. As soon as supper
was over he asked to speak to his father and
mother alone, and told them all about his meet-
ing with the old woman.

They were greatly amazed and alarmed, and
the Baroness declared that she would never
consent to let Maurice encounter such perils.
They both agreed, however, to keep the appoint-
ViII THE OLD WOMAN 105



ment which the old woman had made for the
following evening.

By what arguments she induced them to
consent to Maurice’s undergoing these ordeals
he never knew till many years later, but consent
they did, though with many tears and mis-
givings. They told him when they came back
that he was to go next day at the same hour all
ready to start on the first of his expeditions.
They had stipulated that he was to return after
each sojourn of a year and a day, and was to be
allowed to give up the second, or even the third
expedition if he found the preceding ones too
hard.

‘Thank you a thousand times for letting me
go!’ cried Maurice. ‘You may be sure that I
shall never give up. I should have been un-
happy all my life, had I not had at least a
chance of winning back for you all that IJ
have lost.’
CHAPTER IX
' THE JOURNEY

Ir was necessary, in the first place, to find some
excuse for the sudden departure of Maurice
from Dickwald. The old woman had given
permission to the Baron to confide the secret
to Herr Karl—no one else was to know any-
thing about it.

The Baroness, therefore, told Frau Wetter
that an old friend of the family had offered
to undertake the education of Maurice for three
years, on condition that she was allowed sole
charge of the boy; that he was to be sent to her
that very evening, when she would take him
away with her; and _ that, being somewhat
eccentric, she had forbidden him to correspond.
with any of his friends for a year and a day.

‘That will be sad for the young Baron and
CHAP. Ix THE JOURNEY 107



for all of us,’ said the good woman. ‘ Rudolf
will be grieved, indeed, to have no news for so
long.’

‘I am very sorry, Frau Wetter,’ replied the
poor mother, mournfully; ‘you have all been
more than kind to us, and Maurice will miss
your boy greatly. -We cannot, however, afford
to throw away a chance which may ensure our
boy’s future happiness, so we are obliged to
consent to our friend’s terms, however hard
they may appear.’

Maurice told the same story to Rudolf, who,
though puzzled by the mystery, could only
submit to the prospect of hearing nothing of
his friend for a. year. He explained matters as
well as he could to the other boys, and all came
up to bid Maurice good-bye, and to wish him
good luck on his unexpected journey.

It was announced that this nameless friend
was to meet Maurice somewhere on the way to
Helmer, a small town beyond the Cavern Hull.
The Baron, who had already sold all the horses
which he had been able to rescue from drowning,
hired a horse for himself, and rode away with
Maurice, promising to bring back Rudolf’s pony,
which had again been lent for the expedition.
108 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



It is needless to dwell on the grief of the
poor Baroness on saying farewell to her only
son, or on the parting between Maurice and
his father, which took place at the entrance to
the little wood. The old woman had bidden
the Baron leave Maurice there alone, and had
promised to send her hares to guide him to her
after his father had gone. The little animals
appeared very promptly, and Maurice again
followed them till he stood before their mistress.

‘Now, Maurice, said she, when he had
greeted her respectfully, ‘listen carefully to my
directions, which are few and easy to remember.
You see this little white stone engraved with a
star. You must take it in your hand and use
it as a lantern. It will cast a light on the
ground to show the path by which you are to
travel ; but as it does not shine by day, you can
only journey between sunset and sunrise. You
must follow its guidance until you arrive at the
foot of a hill composed of red, white, and black
rocks, with a little heather and fern, but with
no trees whatever growing upon it. You can-
not mistake the spot. When you reach it, walk
slowly round the hill, holding the stone in your
stretched-out hand. All at once you will see
IX THE JOURNEY 109



the light from the stone shoot upwards, instead
of falling as heretofore on the path at your feet.
When it does this, mark where the light
strikes, which will be on a black rock at about
the level of your head. Give three blows on
that rock ; it will fly open, and you must enter
boldly. Show the stone to the first person
you meet, and ask to be taken to the king.
You will know the king by the gold and
diamond crown which he wears. When you
see him show him also the stone, and tell him
you are sent by the Lady of the Wood. How-
ever severe he seems, do not be afraid. Be
respectful, but do not hesitate to explain what
you want. For the rest I can only say, Be
perfectly obedient. Be brave and work hard.’

‘And when the year and the day are over?’
said Maurice.

‘My hares will come to lead you to me,’
answered the lady, smiling ; ‘and I hope you will
bring the red earth with you. Now the sun
has set, so you may start. Here is some bread
for you to eat if you feel tired and hungry.
You had better go as far as you can to-night.
You can rest and sleep all day. Good-bye.’
She passed behind a tree and disappeared before
110 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cHaP.



Maurice could collect his thoughts sufficiently to
say another word.

There seemed no reason for delay, so Maurice
started at once, keeping the stone in his hand,
and looking at it from time to time to make
sure that he was on the right track. He soon
traversed the little wood, and then his road
led him for an hour or so amidst cultivated
fields, and past a little village where all was
wrapped in slumber. He had then to cross a
wild moor, and reached a large forest. Here,
being tired, he sat down to rest for a time, and
ate the bread which the lady had given him;
then starting again, he journeyed through the
forest for the remainder of the night. At
daybreak he saw the open country beyond him,
and a small farmhouse just outside the boundary
of the forest. He had a little money with him,
and thought it wisest to go and buy some food
before he had his day’s sleep, as people might
have thought it odd if he had gone for pro-
visions at nightfall, and, if offered a lodging,
had insisted on continuing his journey.

Having, therefore, drunk a glass of milk at
the farmhouse, he bought some bread and cold
meat and returned with it to the shelter of the




And did not wake till the sun was setting.

To face p. 111.

Copyright 1894 by Macmillan & Co.
Ix THE JOURNEY 111



forest. He soon chose a comfortable place
under a large oak, and being quite exhausted he
fell fast asleep, and did not wake till the sun was
setting. He then ate his supper, and, completely
refreshed, resumed his lonely journey. Still
guided by the light from the stone, he found
that his way led him once more through fields,
and past more than one sleeping village. Once
only a dog raised his head as he went by, and
gave a low growl; he otherwise saw neither
man nor beast, and only heard the occasional
hoot of an owl. To a boy so fond of company
and conversation as Maurice, you may imagine
that this appeared not a little monotonous. At
last, after crossing two or three little brooks on
stepping-stones, he reached a considerable river
spanned by a stone bridge.

On the other side the country became much
more hilly, and, finally, quite mountainous. The
paths were no longer smooth and easy, but
rugged and full of stones, so that Maurice
frequently stumbled in the uncertain light.

Towards midnight, he arrived at the foot of
a hill which appeared quite distinct from a chain
of mountains lying immediately behind it. At
that moment the moon burst forth from the
112 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP



clouds, which had hitherto been hanging about
her, and her radiance shining full upon this hill,
showed Maurice that it exactly answered to the
description which the old woman had given of
his destination.

It was a pile of red, white, and black rocks,
scantily covered with fern and heather, but
bearing not a single tree.

Recollecting the directions which he had
received, the little boy began to walk slowly
round the base, holding out the stone, and
watching the light which shone from it.
Suddenly the rays, instead of falling on his path,
made a dart towards the hill, and a clear steady
flame pointed to a black rock at a level with
Maurice’s head.

Mastering his inclination to fear, the brave
boy stepped up to the rock, and gave three
blows with a steady hand. The rock instantly
turned outwards as if on hinges and disclosed a
fairly wide and high passage into the hill.

Hesitation was useless, so Maurice entered
and walked on, hoping that a guide would soon
appear. He presently heard voices and sounds
of hammering ; but he reached the end of the
passage before he saw any one, and stopped per-
Ix THE JOURNEY 113



plexed, for another corridor crossed the one in
which he stood. -A blank wall of rock faced
him, and he did not know whether to turn to
the right or left. Suddenly the rock-door by
which he had entered closed, and the moonlight
which had hitherto shone down the passage was
shut out, leaving him in total darkness.

It then occurred to him to look again at his
stone, and he saw that the light pointed
distinctly to the left branch of the corridor, and
he was beginning to grope his way in that
direction when all at once he saw two or three
torches being carried towards him.

He could not at first distinguish the bearers,
but as they came nearer, the flickering beams
showed him that they were three little men—one,
who seemed to be the leader, dressed entirely in
red, with a cap and plume ; the other two, who
wore black suits with scarlet sleeves and caps,
carrying the torches which served to light the
party.

‘Who are you, and what are you doing
here?’ demanded the first in a consequential
tone.

Maurice bowed politely, showed the stone,

and replied : ‘I have brought this stone, sir ; and
’ I
114 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



I should be much obliged if you would kindly
direct me to the king.’

‘To the king, forsooth! What can a fellow
like you have to say to His Majesty?’

‘IT havea message for His Majesty, sir, which
I was particularly directed to deliver to him
personally. ’

‘Ha, hum,’ said the little man, who was
evidently divided between a wish to impress
Maurice with his dignity, and a respect for the
stone which he carried. ‘I believe that the king
is at dinner, and he may not wish to be disturbed
with frivolous messages. I will, however, send
a messenger to inquire. Gimlet,’ he added,
turning to one of the torch-bearers, ‘see if you
can find the gnome-in-waiting. Desire him to
communicate with the Duergar of the bed-
chamber, and to ask him to ascertain from the
Kobold of the treasure-house whether His
Majesty would feel disposed to grant an
audience to an intruder from the outer world
who is somehow possessed of a star-stone.’

Gimlet raised his hand to his head as a sign
of respect, and disappeared on his errand.

During his absence, the little man who had
given these orders continued his conversation
Ix THE JOURNEY 115



with Maurice, and tried in a roundabout way
to get his business out of him.

The boy, however, thought it more prudent
to confide his errand to no one until he had told
it to the king, and he was sharp enough to see
that the star-stone would at least ensure him
an audience. Nor was he deceived. Gimlet
speedily returned, saying that the king desired
to see the messenger immediately in the presence-
chamber. :

‘Come on, then,’ said the little man, drawing
himself up ; ‘if you feel alarmed, youngster, you
can tell me your message, and I will explain it
to His Majesty.’

‘Thank you very much, sir, but I am really
not frightened,’ replied Maurice.

The little man tossed his head, and led the
way still along the left corridor, till they reached
a door made of sparkling crystal. The leader
turned an amethyst handle, and displayed to the
astonished eyes of the boy a magnificent room
entirely lined with crystal and decorated with
strings of amethysts festooned in graceful de-
signs on the walls, and hanging in clusters from
the ceiling. Amethyst couches were placed here
and there, and a number of diminutive pages
116 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.





dressed in purple velvet and white satin were
lolling upon them or playing at marbles on the
crystal floor.

‘The pages’ waiting-room,’ remarked Mau-
rice’s guide. ‘Cannot you stand up, you lazy
scoundrels, when you see a gentleman?’

‘Do you mean yourself or the stranger?’
retorted one of the tallest pages in a saucy tone,
and turning to his companions he remarked in a
half-aside : ‘These gnomes think themselves as
important as Duergars!’

‘As Duergars—as Kobolds you mean! One
would think they were royal princes by the airs
they give themselves,’ replied the other. ‘It’s
your turn to play ;’ and they continued their
game without taking any further notice of the
new-comers.

The gnome, as Maurice now learned to call
him, tossed his head yet more haughtily than
before, but probably knowing by experience that
it was useless to argue with the impertinent pages,
he conducted Maurice through two or three
more rooms lined and adorned with precious
stones, of which the boy did not know the name,
and, like the first, brilliantly lighted. These

rooms were only occupied by a few loungers,
IX THE JOURNEY 117



probably waiting to see some of the courtiers.
The fifth which they entered was, however,
thronged with gnomes, all dressed in red like
Maurice’s first acquaintance, whom several of
them greeted as ‘ Delfer,’ asking him whom he
had picked up, and where he was taking the
intruder ?

Delfer said something in too low a voice for
Maurice to hear, and then asked more loudly
for the gnome-in-waiting. Some one apparently
went to fetch that functionary, and Maurice had
time to admire the splendour of the gnomes’
waiting-room, which was lined with rubies and
festooned with opals. In two minutes the door
of yet another apartment was thrown open, and
the gnome-in-waiting announced in a loud voice :
‘His Majesty the king is graciously pleased to
receive the bearer of the star-stone.’
CHAPTER X
THE EARTH-KING

Wuen Maurice was ushered into the presence-
chamber, he was fairly dazzled by the lustre of the
throng, and the gorgeousness of the background
against which it was displayed. The floor and
walls of the chamber were composed of diamonds
and emeralds arranged in elaborate patterns, and
in each corner stood a diamond tree, laden with
fruits made of jewels of every colour of the
rainbow. Each fruit bore a brilliant light which
flashed and quivered ; but of what the lights in
any of the rooms consisted, Maurice could not
make out.

The courtiers who here surrounded the Earth-
King were the two classes of his nobles—the
Duergars (or Drows, as they are sometimes
called) and the Kobolds. The former were
CHAP, X THE EARTH-KING 119



dressed in green velvet, with chains of diamonds
round their necks; the latter in white satin, every
seam being sewn with emeralds.

The king, whose name was Laurin, was a
little taller than his subjects ; indeed, he would
have about reached up to Maurice’s ear had they
been standing side by side, whereas none of the
courtiers were as high as the little boy’s shoulder.
He was attired in white velvet, but his suit
was almost hidden by the masses of diamonds,
emeralds, rubies, and other stones, with which it
was covered. On his head, as the old woman
had foretold, he wore a golden crown set with
diamonds of extraordinary size. He had black
eyes, reddish hair and beard, and looked as if he
would not suffer contradiction. Maurice bowed
low before the monarch, and waited for him to
speak.

‘Are you the bearer of the star-stone?’ he
inquired, in a somewhat stern and very deep
voice.

‘Yes, so please your Majesty.’

‘From whom do you come, and what is
your errand?’

‘IT come, sire, from the Lady of the Wood.’

The king raised his hand to his head, as
120 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Gimlet had done when the gnome addressed
him, and said in a milder tone:

‘She is my good friend. She aided me when
Iwas unjustly dealt with by Theodoric of Verona,
as you may read in the old songs. What is her
will with me?’ _

‘So please your Majesty, she sends me to
you as a servant. My great-great-grandfather
won the Haunted Valley from Querquex, who
ruled it and the river-monsters in days gone by.
He held it by means of a red jar, which he
forced Querquex to give him. I gave the jar
back to Querquex and he broke it, so that the
river flooded the valley and ruined my father and
all the people. The Lady of the Wood said
that only another red jar could drive back the
waters, and bade me ask the red earth wherewith
to make it as a reward if I might be allowed
to work for your Majesty for a year and a day.’

King Laurin looked severely at the little boy.
‘You gave the red jar which your ancestor won
to your father’s enemy?’

‘Yes, sire, I did wrong, and I am ready to
suffer for it.’

The king paused, and looked at the star-stone
which he held in his hand.
x THE EARTH-KING 121

‘The red earth is no light guerdon. It isa
greater treasure than any of these diamonds and
rubies. We hide these in the earth and let
mortals seek them at their will. It amuses us
to see them toiling and quarrelling to gain
such trifles. The red earth is a magic talisman.
Nevertheless, the lady is my friend, and I will not
deny her. You, boy, though, must do your
service as a slave. I shall not spare you.’

‘Iam quite prepared, your Majesty,’ replied
Maurice.

King Laurin turned to the gnome, Delfer :
‘Then do you, Delfer, take this boy and put
him into one of the gangs. Choose one which
specially needs extra labourers. I shall hear
reports of you from time to time,’ he added,
speaking again to Maurice ; ‘now go.’

Maurice bowed once more, and was led
away by Delfer, who appeared to be somewhat
viciously pleased at having him in charge.

‘ Ah, ah, youngster,’ he exclaimed, when they
were back in the gnomes’ waiting-room, ‘so this
was your wonderful secret which you would con-
fide to no one but the king. A gentleman gnome
was not good enough for you. Well, we shall
see how you like the common pigmies, and how
122 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



they will treat you.’ The other gnomes in the
room came round to look at Maurice.

‘To which of the gang-masters shall you
give him, Delfer?’ asked one.

‘To Trowcher, I think,’ returned Delfer ;
‘he’s a good one at breaking in new hands,’

‘What’s he working at now?’

‘Iron,’ replied Delfer. ‘They have to fil
that big new mountain with ore.’

‘Why don’t you let the poor fellow start
with the gold pigmies?’ asked a good-natured
gnome ; ‘it is much easier work.’

‘Of course it is,’ grinned Delfer ; ‘but the
king did not say the youngster was to be put to
easy work, did he? Besides, none of the gang-
masters in my department are working gold at
present, and I want to keep this young gentle-
man under my own eye.’

Poor Maurice did not feel very comfortable
during this conversation, and he felt still less so
when Delfer led him away from the jewelled
apartments of what he now perceived to be the
king’s palace, and conducted him by a long
subterranean passage into another hill, which
was, for the time being, the dwelling of the
redoubted Trowcher.
ox THE EARTH-KING 123





Maurice soon discovered that all the hard
work was done by the lower classes of King
Laurin’s subjects, who were called pigmies.
They were ugly little dwarfs, roughly dressed in
brown or dirty yellow garments, and seemed
very strong. Those pigmies who, like his old
acquaintance Gimlet, wore black and red suits,
were a slightly superior race, who acted as
personal attendants on the Gnomes, Duergars,
and Kobolds. As for the pages, they were
the sons of Duergars and Kobolds, who
were being brought up in the king’s
palace.

Trowcher was a full-sized pigmy, very sturdy
and fierce in aspect. He wore a silver chain
round his neck as a sign of his position as gang-
master. He listened with a kind of surly
respect to the directions of Delfer, who was
superintendent of his own and several other
gangs, but it was evident that he had a secret
contempt for the conceited courtier.

‘Very well, sir, if the youngster wants break-
ing in, as you say, you've brought him to the
right quarter. He'll have to work anyhow.
He’s big enough.’

In truth, Maurice was nearly a head taller
124 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



than Trowcher, who was himself taller than any
of his gang.

‘Well, good-bye, Trowcher,’ said Delfer; ‘1
cannot stand the detestable atmosphere of your
works any longer this morning. I'll look round
again shortly. Keep them at it, my good pigmy,
—keep them at it! Ta-ta, and with a con-
descending wave of his hand, Delfer departed,
attended by his two torch-bearers.

Now poor Maurice’s troubles began in good
earnest. The pigmies, like all the earth spirits,
were tricksy and most uncertain in temper.
Sometimes they would be good-natured enough,
would show Maurice how to set about his work,
and even help him to do it. At other times
without any reason they would abuse him, knock
him about, and hinder him in every possible
manner. Then Trowcher would come up, call
him a lazy scoundrel, and beat him or keep
him without his supper of hard, black bread.

He had to sleep in a dingy recess in the
rock, and was thankful for an old sack to lie
upon, which a pigmy had given him in a fit of
good-nature. His work was very hard. He
had to carry fuel for the fires which the pigmies
kept constantly burning, to make the iron ore
x THE EARTH-KING 125



which they were afterwards to hide in the new
mountain, to blow the bellows to make those
fires burn faster, and to help to remove the ore
when it was made, and pile it up in heaps ready
for transport to its hiding-place. His hardest
trial was yet to come.

Delfer was a thoroughly malicious gnome,
and had taken a petty dislike to the boy, simply
because he would not tell him his errand in
advance, and give him the trivial importance of
announcing it to the king.

Therefore, whenever he paid his official visits
to the metal-works, he took some opportunity
of finding fault with Maurice. He would
suddenly order him to do work which he had
not been taught to perform, or would send him
to fetch something which he knew was not to
be found, and then he would scold and strike
the boy for being unable to execute these
impossible orders.

Fortunately, however, Trowcher disliked
Delfer quite as much as Delfer disliked Maurice ;
and though he did not dare contradict the king’s
deputy to his face, the gang-master totally
disregarded his complaints of Maurice when
his back was turned, and in fact rather favoured
126 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



the boy than otherwise in consequence of the
gnome’s ill-will towards him. The crisis
occurred as follows.

Most children have in their paint-boxes a
colour called cobalt. Now cobalt, from which
such colours are made, is often found in one
kind of iron-ore, and, originally, took its name
from the Kobolds or dwarfs of the mines. Of
course the pigmies of our story must have occa-
sionally mixed cobalt in their ore, or it could not
have been afterwards found there; it happened
from their combining their materials and firing
them in a particular way. Only the Kobolds
or highest nobles of Laurin’s court were allowed,
annually, a small quantity of the substance which
was called by their name; and it was very seldom,
indeed, that any of it fell into the hands of a
Duergar, while only one or two gnomes had
ever been known to possess a few grains.
Delfer was exceedingly anxious to obtain
a little of this treasure, which he thought
would confer a special distinction upon him,
and he one day tried to induce Trowcher to
promise to put some aside for him next time
that any should result from the firing.

1 A fact.
x THE EARTH-KING 127



Trowcher, however, flatly refused, saying that
cobalt was only occasionally produced, and that
by the king’s special orders half was then left in
the ore, and half taken to the royal treasury.
The king could dispose of it as he pleased; as
far as Trowcher knew he never gave any to a
courtier beneath the rank of a Kobold; at all
events it would be high treason for any other
person to reserve or dispose of it without His
Majesty’s personal directions.

So saying, Trowcher walked off in a most
determined manner, leaving Delfer exceedingly
cross and mortified. The gnome had thought
that he and Trowcher were alone when he made
the request ; but as it happened, Maurice was
sitting behind a large pair of bellows waiting for
orders to begin blowing them. Delfer noticed
him directly Trowcher had left, and addressed
him angrily :

‘What do you mean, you little scoundrel, by
listening to what your betters are saying?’

‘I beg your pardon, sir, my master told me
to wait here for orders. He knew that I was
behind the bellows, and I did not know that
you had anything private to say to him.’

‘Did you hear what we said?’
128 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



‘Yes, sir; I could not help hearing.’

Delfer paused in extreme wrath, and then,
restraining himself, said :

‘Well, I will forgive you on one condition
only. Next time that your furnace produces
any cobalt, you must take a little and keep it
for me. You carry the ore to the heaps, so you
can easily do it without being found out.’

‘J am very sorry, sir; I cannot possibly take
any cobalt after what I heard my master say.’

‘Trowcher is not your master. I am his
superior officer, so I am your master, and you
must mind what I say. Do you hear?’

‘I hear, sir.’

‘ And will you promise to bring me the cobalt?’

‘T cannot, sir; the king——’

‘Oh yes, the king is your friend, we all
know. You can tell your secrets to him, not
to me. Now listen; the king receives my
report to-morrow, and if you do not promise
what I ask, I shall tell him that you are an idle,
disobedient slave, and you will never get your
red earth. If you will get me the cobalt, I will
give an excellent account of you, and you are
certain of your reward—so choose.’

It was a hard trial. After all, Delfer was


To face p. 129.

‘T cannot steal,’ gasped Maurice.
x THE EARTH-KING 129



his superior ; could he not justly obey him?
No; Trowcher was his master, and was, as he
well knew, only carrying out the king’s orders
in his refusal. . Maurice must abide by it also.

‘T am very sorry, sir,’ he repeated ; ‘I cannot
betray my trust.’

Delfer gave him a violent blow which
knocked him down, for small as they were,
the earth-spirits had immensely powerful arms.
Before Maurice could rise the gnome seized
a heavy hammer, and holding it over him, cried
in a passion :

‘Impertinent wretch! Promise to bring me
the cobalt, or I will dash out your brains!’ -

‘I cannot steal,’ gasped Maurice, raising his
arm to ward off the blow. ;

Too late! it was just descending, when

‘Who tempts my servants to steal?’ said a
deep, stern voice, and a strong hand grasped
Delfer’s arm in a grip of iron. Delfer turned,
and his fury changed to terror as he recognised
the king. ;

Maurice rose to his feet as Delfer fell on his
knees, and both awaited the judgment of the
monarch.

AA very short inquiry was needed. King

K


130 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Laurin had thought well to make a personal
inspection of his labourers just before receiving
the report of the superintendents. He had
seen from a little distance that Delfer and
Maurice were in earnest and excited conver-
sation, and as -he had already some slight
mistrust of the conceited gnome, he had stolen
up quietly to hear what it was about.

He had distinctly heard the three last sen-
tences, and had seen Delfer knock the boy
down. Trowcher was summoned, and being
an honest though a hard master—besides, as
already said, detesting Delfer—he gave Maurice
an excellent character.

The king gave summary judgment. He
degraded Delfer to the rank of a pigmy, and,
horror of horrors! condemned him to work
under his enemy, Trowcher.

To Maurice, he said :

‘You have worked hard for three months,
and have shown yourself worthy of your birth.
Your father is a Duergar in his own country,
and though your disobedience degraded you to
the rank of a slave, your obedience and fidelity
have redeemed you, at least in my eyes. What
may be your further fate I know not, but
x THE EARTH-KING 131



during the remainder of your sojourn here you
shall be one of my pages, live with them, and
share their games and studies.’

Joyfully, indeed, did Maurice thank the
king. He bade a kindly farewell to Trowcher,
who had not, on the whole, treated him
unjustly. He laid aside his dirty, brown garb,
and was soon dressed in the amethyst and white
of the king’s pages, who, knowing his story,
received him cordially enough.

Life amongst them was not unpleasant, nor
was his time by any means wasted.

He learnt all about metals and their uses ;
about the formation of rocks, and the growth of
trees and flowers. He, indeed, saw little of the
bright sunshine, and enjoyed few breaths of the
free air, though occasionally the king took him
as an attendant on one of his rare visits to the
upper world.

So the remaining nine months slipped rapidly
away, and, on the completion of a year anda day
from his entrance into the mountain of the
Earth-King, Maurice took a friendly leave of
his companions, and received with gratitude and
respect from the hands of Laurin the red earth,
the first ingredient needed for a new jar.
CHAPTER XI
THE SECOND QUEST

BricHTLy shone the sun of that pleasant summer
morning when the black rock-door closed be-
hind the freed Maurice.

He heard the little birds sing, smelt the
fresh fern and heather, and, looking across the
stony rugged path, over which he had stumbled
on his arrival, caught distant glimpses of the
green fields and meadows lying beyond the
dark mountains.

‘Where are the hares?’ thought he. ‘Ido
hope the lady has not forgotten to send them.
I don’t know if she is still in the wood even if I
could find my way back there.’

As he spoke he heard a little scratching
behind a neighbouring hillock, and turning his
head, he first saw one of the grey hares
CHAP, XI THE SECOND QUEST 133



skip merrily over it, and then his three com-
panions.

They frisked about as if to greet the little
boy, who was delighted to see his old guides ;
then they set off in their usual lively manner,
and Maurice followed at a brisk pace.

It was no longer necessary to travel by night ;
and as far as Maurice could judge, the course
which they now took was quite different from
that by which he had approached the mountain.

Though Maurice had declared that the red
earth was the only recompense which he asked
for his year’s work, King Laurin had insisted
on adding two bags of gold to his wages, so,
when the hares stopped at nightfall before a
farmhouse, he was well able to pay for supper
and lodging.

The hares concealed themselves for the
night in a neighbouring thicket, and Maurice
thought it wiser not to mention his companions,
as he knew that farmers are not a/ways devoted
to hares.

Another day’s journey passed without adven-
ture, and in the evening they reached a charm-
ing lake embosomed in a valley with low hills
all round it. The hares ran on speedily when
134, MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



they neared the lake, and were soon out of
sight. Maurice followed as fast as he could,
but was presently obliged to pause by uncer-
tainty as to the path they had taken, when, to
his great joy, he saw their mistress coming
towards him.

He just managed to recognise her, though
she looked much younger and prettier than she
had done when they parted.

‘Well done, Maurice,’ said she ; ‘now come
to my house and rest yourself.’

The house was a pretty dwelling of white
marble on the shores of the lake; and while
Maurice was at supper, the lady asked him for
an account of his adventures, and told him all
about his parents.

His father was employed by a friend of
Count Bestern’s, as steward, to look after a large
property not very far from the lady’s present
dwelling. His mother was well, though exceed-
ingly anxious about Maurice. Herr Karl had
found another pupil, and Rudolf was at school.

‘I sent word to your parents that they had
better invite Herr Karl and Rudolf to spend a
couple of days with them this week. You
know,’ added the lady, smiling, ‘that you were
XI THE SECOND QUEST 135



not able to keep your twelfth birthday on the
right day, and now you must have a party.’

‘I hope I shall keep my birthday better than
I did last year,’ replied Maurice, in a rather
mournful tone.

‘I hope so, too,’ said the lady. ‘Well, you
had better go to bed now, and the hares shall
take you to your parents the first thing to-
morrow morning, for you could not reach their
new home to-night.’

It is needless to dwell on the happiness of
the Baron and Baroness at seeing their dear boy
again, or on all that they had to tell and to
hear. They thought Maurice much grown and
improved ; and when Herr Karl arrived, he was
satisfied that, though his regular lessons had
been neglected, he had learned other things
almost equally useful. As for Rudolf, he was
overjoyed at seeing his friend again, and the
only drawback to Maurice’s pleasure in the
meeting was that he was obliged to be so
cautious in the account which he gave of his
fellow-pages, whom he, not untruly, called ‘his
schoolfellows.’

This happy holiday was of short duration.
The lady had bidden Maurice remember that
136 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



he was only to spend a week at home before
departing to seek service with the King of the
Sea, and the boy was determined to be faithful
to his undertaking.

His mother wept bitter tears, and his father
was very sad at the leave-taking, yet both felt
rather more hopeful than they had done the
year before, and Maurice had the satisfaction of
knowing that, though poor in comparison with
their former position, they were not in actual
want.

The hares were not to be Maurice’s escort on
his second journey. The lady showed him a
little stream which ran out of the lake at the
end farthest from that which he had first seen.
She told him to follow this stream as far as he
possibly could, and that it would finally fall
into an underground passage.

‘The passage,’ she said, ‘slants downwards,
and you must scramble down as best you can.
You will get very wet, and you will probably
have a few falls, but if you keep a good heart
there is no serious danger. When you get to
the bottom you will find yourself by the side
of an underground river Clap your hands three
times and a great fish will swim up to you.
XI THE SECOND QUEST : 137



Jump on his back, and bid him carry you to
the King of the Sea.’

‘ How shall I see him? Won't it be quite
dark?’ asked Maurice.

‘All the water underground is luminous,’
said the lady. ‘It will not be very light, but
quite light enough for you to see the fish.’

‘Suppose he will not take me?’ said the boy.

‘He cannot help himself,’ replied the lady.
‘He lives there on purpose to carry pas-
sengers to the king’s capital city. Of course,
as a rule, no mortals get down there; if they
do, they must be taken across like the king’s
other subjects.’

‘ That’s all right,’ said Maurice, ‘and when I
get to the king?’

‘Say to him, as you said to King Laurin, that
you come from the Lady of the Wood, and say
also that she bids him ‘remember the pink
shell.” He will understand. For the rest, you
must tell your story frankly as you did before.
The rules I gave you still hold good. I must
tell you, though, that the King of the Sea is
more shifty than the Earth-King. He may try
and impose upon you some task which he thinks
you will be unable to fulfil. I can only say, Do
138 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR ~~ cuap.



your best. Now you had better give me your
red earth to take care of, and then set off without
delay.’

Maurice gladly gave the red earth, which was
in a little gold box, into the charge of his kind
friend. The bags of gold he had left with his
parents ; he wanted them to use the money, but
they refused, saying they would keep it for him
till he was older.

He said good-bye to the lady, and though
melancholy at the thought of another year’s
separation from all his friends, he was not at
_ all despondent at the idea of a further encounter
with the strange beings who lived in the under-
world.

An hour’s walk along the side of the stream
brought him to the entrance of the under-
ground passage, down which he scrambled,
getting very wet and dirty and somewhat
bruised in the process, but without doing
himself any serious damage.

The stream dashed with a loud noise on to
the rocks at the bottom of the descent; and
then, fed by unseen springs, widened out into
the underground river of which the lady had
spoken.
x1 THE SECOND QUEST 139



Fortunately the river was, as she had said,
luminous, otherwise Maurice must have fallen
into it and would probably have been drowned.
As it was, he managed with considerable diffi-
culty to arrive on a narrow ledge of rock at
the side, where he steadied himself and looked
about him.

‘There was little to be seen. Behind was the
gloomy water-course which he had just descended,
barely illuminated by a faint shaft of light from
the open air which he had once more abandoned ;
on either hand were dim walls of grey stone
united in a rude vault over the faintly shining
river, which, soon ceasing to be disturbed by
the downward plunge of the streamlet, rolled
silently onwards to the unknown realms of
ocean.

‘Well,’ said he to himself, ‘this looks even
more uncanny than King Laurin’s entrance-
hall. I hope the porter who introduces me to
my new sovereign will be better tempered than
poor old Delfer. I had better ring the hall-bell
without delay, I suppose ;’ and he clapped his
hands three times.

The new hall-porter did not keep him
waiting. A very large brown fish, something
140 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



like a porpoise, swam slowly to the brink,
drawling out : ‘ What’s up now?’

‘A visitor, if you please,’ replied Maurice,—
‘come to pay his respects to the King of the
Sea.’

‘You're a queer-looking kind of visitor,’
returned the fish, lazily lifting his snout out of
the water. ‘You're not a Triton nora merman,
I can see that. Perhaps you’re a deputation?’

‘ Perhaps I am,’ returned Maurice, with some
hesitation. To tell the truth, he was not quite
sure what a deputation was, nor whether it was
a person or thing likely to be received favourably
or otherwise.

‘I took a deputation across the other day,’
continued the fish, who seemed inclined to be
communicative. ‘It was three Nereids, and
pretty heavy they were. Sent by the lord of
the salt lakes, I believe; said something had
gone wrong with the water sent back to them.
Wanted our king to interfere. Cannot see that
it was his fault. Fault of the sun, I should say.
Drew the water up wrong—or perhaps it was the
cloud currents. Things must go askew if so
many folks meddle. Don’t you think so? Oh,
I forgot ; you say you're a deputation yourself?’
XI THE SECOND QUEST 141



‘I am not going to trouble His Majesty
about the lakes or the clouds,’ answered Maurice,
cautiously ; ‘mine is a very small business and
easily settled.’

‘Well, it is no affair of mine anyhow ; only
the Prime Triton is such a crusty old boy that
if he is bothered the whole of the departments
are upset, and every one gets it hot from some-
body else, even down to the ferry fish. Rather
hard lines; don’t you think so?’

‘Yes, sir, I am certainly of that opinion. I
will try not to annoy the Prime Triton if you
will be kind enough to give me a lift to the
capital city.’

‘Why, of course I must—that is my business.
Rather hard at my age to have to carry about
all sorts of people who might just as well swim ;
don’t you think so?’

This was an awkward question to answer
under the circumstances, so, as the old fish
ranged himself alongside the bank while making
his last remark, Maurice jumped on his back,
merely saying politely : ‘I hope you won’t find
me very heavy.’

‘Seat yourself astride, and hold on to my
neck,’ said the fish, and swam off rapidly enough.
142 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



For a considerable distance the river ran
under arched rocks like those at the starting-
place; and the old fish only indulged in an
occasional grumble at things in general, and his
own work in particular. At length he said :

‘Look out !. we are near the cascade.’

‘How the water is roaring!’ cried Maurice.
‘IT wonder at there being another waterfall ; Icame
down such a deep one to get to this river.’

‘Do you call that scrap of a driblet deep?’
returned the fish. ‘ You must know little enough
about the depth of the sea. Just you wait a bit
before you speak, and mind you hold tight.’

There was reason for his warning. With a
leap and a bound, the river, which had been
getting rapidly wider, swept over the edge of a
vast precipice, and rushed like a troop of wild
horses down, down, Maurice knew not whither.
All he could do in the seething mass of waters,
with their deafening roar, as they tossed and
lashed his body hither and thither, was to cling
desperately with his arms to the neck of the old
fish, wondering, as far as his brain could work
at all in the tumult, whether he should not
stifle the poor creature before either of them
reached the foot of the cascade. A final plunge,
XI THE SECOND QUEST 143



a dive which seemed to exhaust his remaining
breath, a rebound to the surface, and then, to
his relief and amazement, Maurice found himself
once more in smooth water, with his arms still
round the neck of his scaly companion.

He scrambled again on to its back, and pushed
the tangled mass of hair and salt spray out of his’
eyes. As he did so, a cry of delight burst from
his lips. Never had he seen such a lovely scene
as that which was unfolded before him. Far and
wide spread the blue and golden plain of a
tranquil sea below, reflecting another calm ocean
overhead, while right in front of him rose the
dream-like palace of the King of the Sea. The
framework of the roof and the sculptured
columns of varied and graceful forms were of
alternate pink and white coral, while in between
quivered walls and rafters of living light and
colour, prisoned in arrested waves of the sea.
The water was reared into walls and spread into
ceilings, yet, though it never moved from its
place, it caught and threw back every passing
gleam and shadow, while the captured light
within showed in turn all the glories of ame-
thyst, ruby, emerald, and sapphire, not the dead
jewels of the Earth-King’s home, but sheets of
144 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



radiance ever changing and ever producing fresh.
visions of beauty.

‘Yes,’ growled the old fish, < it’s very pretty
no doubt ; every one calls out like that when they
first see it; but you would not care so much
about it if you had to shoot down that water-
fall, with deputations on your back, choking
you by squeezing your neck when the hubbub
of the cascade frightened them. Pretty hard
work at my time of life. Don’t you think so?’

‘ Certainly, I do, Mr. Fish ; and Iam very sorry
for the inconvenience to which I put you. I
suppose this is where I get off your back? I
should be unwilling to trouble you any further.’

‘I must take you round to the Inquiry
Office; the merman there will write down your
name and tell you who will attend to your
business.’

The old fish, who was a_ conscientious
Government servant, swam round to what
seemed to be a side entrance to the palace.

Here Maurice found a crowd of mermen,
mermaidens, and fishes of all sorts and kinds,
some gossiping together, and some bustling to
_and fro, apparently taking messages, or otherwise
occupied with affairs of the highest importance.
XI THE SECOND QUEST ; 145



Several of the idlers hurried up and questioned
the watery steed concerning his charge.

‘Get out of the way,’ said the old fish. -I’m
nearly throttled as usual with one of these new
hands. They never know how to keep straight
and quiet—always lose their heads in the squish-
squash. I want to get rid of the job and go
home again ;’ and he splashed his tail right and
left till he had cleared a path for himself and
Maurice.

A young merman, with a man’s head and
body, and a fish’s tail, which he had twisted
comfortably round the coral stool on which he
was perched, looked rather surprised at seeing
the boy.

‘You're a new sort,’ he said. ‘The lakes and
rivers generally send us Nereids when they want
anything. Don’t care about the young ladies
myself; they talk so much. Who sent you?’

‘A lady sent me, sir, and she particularly
told me to give my message to the king.’

‘Oh, ah. I think you had better see the
Prime Triton.’

‘If you could arrange it, sir, I should be
very glad to fulfil my orders as they were given

me.
L
14.6 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cuap. x1



‘You won’t get much attention, I can tell
you. However, the general audience is on now,
and you can go in with the rest if you like.’

Maurice had gained his point more easily
than he expected. Having thanked the old
fish and said good-bye to him, he followed the.
throng which was now crowding into the
palace.
CHAPTER XII
OLD ACQUAINTANCE

‘Take care,’ said a pretty Nereid, as Maurice,
who was occupied in staring with all his eyes at
the hall and its occupants, stumbled and nearly
fell.

He looked down, and saw that a fall would
have landed him in an immense tank, which
filled all the centre of the floor, and was full of
fish, mermen, and mermaidens, who were waiting
in those cool and comfortable quarters till the
monarch chose to notice them. ‘These were the
inhabitants of the sea; while the Nereids, nixies,
and other spirits of the lakes and rivers, who
had feet instead of tails, sometimes splashed
about in the water, and sometimes stood or sat
on a platform of pearl which ran all round the
edge.
148 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



At the upper end of the hall was a raised
dais, also of pearl, and on it a throne of the
finest pink coral magnificently carved, and
draped in a transparent veiling of spun silver.

Around the throne reclined the Tritons, who
were ministers of state; they could not stand
comfortably on account of their tails. The
royal guards, on the contrary, stood upright.
They were a chosen band, selected from the
spirits of the great northern lakes on account
of their strength and stature. They wore
armour made of polished blue and green scales,
with mother-of-pearl helmets and breastplates,
and carried long crystal spears. As Maurice was
looking with admiration at these gallant warriors
they presented arms, and the king entered the
hall, followed by the princes and princesses.

All the royal family had legs, and they alone
of all the spirits of the waters had the power of
changing their legs into tails and back again at
pleasure.

The princes wore tunics of white silk orna-
mented with pearls, and the princesses were all
dressed in green and had garlands of aqua-
marine in their long flowing hair.

The king was tall and handsome, with blue
XII OLD ACQUAINTANCE 149



eyes and pale golden curls. His robes were of
a peculiar kind of glittering tissue, which at first
appeared to be silver, but shimmered with every
movement, taking blue, green, purple, or crimson
hues. As he ascended the throne those present
saluted with profound respect. All who were
standing on the platform bowed low, while the
reclining Tritons and the occupants of the tank
waved their tails as a sign of reverence and joy.
Then the audience began. The ministers, who
had transacted their own business with the king
in private, presented the Nereids who had come
from tributary waters, and the messengers who
had been sent by the king, and had returned
with an account of their missions.

Maurice saw that all were very much afraid
of the sovereign, and got through their errands
as quickly as possible, for fear of making him
impatient.

When the affairs of the dais were ended the
king, with his attendants, proceeded to walk
round the platform, and every one who wanted
to present a petition tried to catch his eye.
Only a few succeeded in doing so, and Maurice
understood what the merman at the door meant
by saying, that he was not likely to get much
150 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



attention if he tried to give his message without
a go-between. Nevertheless he determined to
make an effort : so when the procession arrived
close to him, he fell on one knee right in front
of the king, and held up his hands.

The difference of his appearance from that
of the petitioners around him drew the king’s
attention, and he said :

‘Get up, what do you want ; speak quickly.’

‘I come, please your Majesty, from the Lady
of the Wood. She bids me ask you to take me
as a servant, that by service for a year and a
day I may deserve the water needful to mingle
with earth, and so make another red jar in place
of one which I lost to the river-spirit Querquex.’

‘I know all about that,’ returned the monarch.
‘Querquex is my second cousin once removed.
We are not friends, yet I don’t know that I care
to help his enemies.’

This was a painful rebuff. Maurice could
only summon courage to add: ‘ My lady bids
you remember the pink shell.’

The king, whose name was Ourisk, hesitated
and looked at one of the princesses, who, as
Maurice then perceived, wore a pink shell as a
clasp on her shoulder.
XII OLD ACQUAINTANCE 151



‘It is true that when my daughter was lost
in the wood the lady found her, knew her by
her pink shell, and brought her home. If you
have brought that message, I suppose she really
claims my help.’

‘Oh yes, father,’ said the princess, coming
forward. ‘This is a nice boy, and the lady was
so kind. You know Querquex was not good to
our cousins, and you were very angry with him.
Do help this boy.’

‘Well,’ said Ourisk, impatiently, ‘he shall
try ; but if he fails he fails, and in that case, he
will not get the water from the Green Well, the
only one which holds what he wants. I don’t care
for Querquex or the boy either, so this trial
may decide which shall win the day. Now,
some of you take him away and put him to
shell-making ; that will puzzle him a bit.’

It did puzzle him a good deal. Maurice dis-
covered that everything that floated down from
wrecks, or was swept from the earth by storms
and drowned in the depths of the sea did indeed,
as the poet said—

‘suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.’

And it was to effect that change that Maurice
152 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



had to aid by unceasing toil. Clothes and
cannons, books and biscuit-tins, the rigging of
ships, bales of cotton and tons of steel rails, the
gold of merchants and the toys of children—
everything came down and was stowed away in
the endless caves which were the storehouses of
King Ourisk. Nothing was to go out as it
came in. Clothes were turned into sea~weed,
or woven into the wondrous fabrics worn by
the ocean people. Steel and iron were trans-
formed into coral and pearl; toys and books
became lovely shells; tin boxes and gold coins
were alike made into the brilliant spars and
pebbles which men find in caves and rocks by
the sea-shore.

The shell-making which fell to Maurice’s
share was no easy work. He had to crush and
break all the articles given him till they were
almost as fine as powder, then to put this
powder into some peculiar pools in the rocks
and leave it there till it became a sort of pulp,
and this had to be modelled into shells of all
kinds, which were then left to harden in a
petrifying spring. The whole process took
about five days. He was given on the first
day enough materials for two hundred shells,
xIL OLD ACQUAINTANCE 153



and moulds of the patterns into which they
were to be made, and on the evening of each
fifth day he was expected to produce them
finished.

The old merman, under whose charge he was
placed, was not as spiteful as Delfer towards
Maurice personally, but he was much more
stupid, and never took the trouble to explain
how work was to be done. He had one
regular punishment for any workman who did
not bring the right quantity of shells at the
given time. He had a little cell full of stinging
jelly-fish ; for every shell in default the culprit
was kept three minutes in the cell without any
clothes on. In ten minutes a boy could be
stung all over; so you can imagine the result
of coming with five or six shells too few!

Poor Maurice came one evening, about two
months after his arrival in the sea-kingdom,
with only one hundred and ninety-three shells.

‘How is this?’ said the old merman, when
he had counted them.

‘Please, sir, I had a new pattern this time,
and so many got broken in the little twist at the
end of the shell that you see here

‘Don’t talk; you're seven shells short,


154. MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cHap.



Cell-keeper, twenty-one minutes for this boy.
Next !’

Maurice had had six minutes in the cell on
two previous occasions, and the thought of
twenty-one was something awful ; but it was no
good talking. In he was thrust, and the door
shut. The jelly-fish fastened on him with a
will, and when he came out he was one mass of
stings, and sobbing bitterly. Just at that minute
who should come by but the king!

‘Who is this?’ said Ourisk, for it was
impossible to distinguish the boy’s_ swollen
features.

‘The last new apprentice, your Majesty.
Just had twenty-one minutes with the jelly-
fish, replied the old merman, with a erin.
‘Capital way of keeping them up to the mark,
I assure your Majesty. Not a bad workman
either, this boy. Fact, best new hand I have
had for many a year. Had a new pattern to-
day and could not quite master it,’

‘And this is how you teach him, eh?’ said
the king, much amused.

‘Saves me all trouble, your Majesty. Jelly-
fish show him he must manage it somehow.’

‘I think I will take him in hand myself, if
XII OLD ACQUAINTANCE isis



he is such a good workman,’ continued the
king, thoughtfully. ‘Look here, you—what’s
your name?’

‘ Maurice von Brinkman, please your Majesty,’
answered the boy, mastering his sobs.

‘Well, Maurice, the Lady of the Wood sent
you to me, and for her sake I take a special
interest in you. Your master here says you are
such a promising pupil, though I must confess
that your appearance at the present minute is
somewhat against you Halloo, what’s
that noise?’

‘Young merman having fifteen minutes with
the jelly-fish. Your Majesty sees how it wakes
them up,’ said the old master, quite proud of his
discipline. ;

‘Well, I wish he would not howl like that
while I am speaking. I was saying, Maurice,
that I will find you some superior work myself.
You remember the coral throne in the hall of
audience? Oh, do keep that youngster quiet!’

The old merman shouted to the prisoner
that if he shrieked any more he would double
his time ; and the merboy, who had thought that
perhaps the king would let him out on hearing
his cries, subsided into quiet sobs at this threat.


156 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cHap.



The king continued: ‘I want another throne
exactly like that, carving and all, and you shall
have the honour of making it.’

‘I, your Majesty! I have never learnt——

‘What has learning to do with it? Your
master says he finds that jelly-fish are the best
teachers of shell-making, though they certainly
have less experience of shells than most other
rock-fish. Now, I will be perfectly fair. You
shall have nine months to make the throne.
You shall have a large cave with proper
appliances, and the best steel which can be
found of which to make the coral. No one
shall come near to disturb you. At the end
of nine months there will, I believe, be only
a month and a day of your service here to run.
If you have made the throne to the satisfaction
of the Tritons, my ministers, you shall have that
last month to explore the wonders of my
kingdom, and shall receive the water from the
Green Well. If you fail, of course you forfeit
the water, and you shall spend the remaining
thirty-one days—with the jelly-fish.’

The distress of Maurice’s mind at these
words made him almost forget the pain of his
body. He remembered the lady’s warning, that

?
XII OLD ACQUAINTANCE 157



Ourisk might try and impose upon him a task
which he thought impossible to fulfil, and had
no doubt that this was his present intention.
The lady had said too, ‘Do your best.’ He
could only try. Was there any chance of
success ?

‘Your Majesty, I will do my best. I should
indeed be grateful for other instructors than the
jelly-fish.’

‘I daresay you would, particularly as in this
case their lessons will not take place till after the
work is accomplished,—or otherwise. How-
ever, I fear I cannot spare you other teachers.
You must work alone.’

Two months sped on, and their conclusion
saw poor Maurice sitting in his solitary cave in
an attitude of complete despair. In front of
him was the splendid throne which he was
supposed to copy, around him lay the useless
piles of steel which he had vainly tried to
convert into coral.

‘It is no good,’ murmured the poor boy to
himself; ‘I have done my best and can do no
more.’

‘Hist!’ said a voice somewhere in the roof
of the cave.
158 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Maurice looked up, but could see nothing,
except a tiny crevice in the surface, which was
all of glittering spar.

‘Who’s there?’ he said, hardly expecting an
answer.

‘Hist!’ said the voice again—‘ hand up one
of your tools—that chisel, for choice.’

Maurice stood on tip-toe and held out the
chisel; the roof was too high, he could not
reach it.

‘Here!’ said the voice, ‘ cannot you pull the
throne under the chink and stand on it? It’s
worth your while to take a little trouble, I can
tell you.’

Something struck Maurice as familiar in the
tone. Anyhow, it was friendly, and he needed
a friend sorely. He pulled the throne under
the crevice, stood upon it, and pushed the chisel
through the chink to some one who seized it
from above.

‘Now,’ said the voice, ‘take an axe and help
from below ; but look out, or pieces may fall in
your eyes.’

‘The some one above was heard cutting away
with the chisel, while Maurice began chopping
off the spar underneath. Presently a small]
XU : OLD ACQUAINTANCE 159



white hand was thrust through the opening,
a mallet was demanded, and Maurice told to
‘clear out of the way altogether.’ A few more
vigorous blows and a large piece of rock fell in,
which would have seriously damaged the throne
had not Maurice pulled it away just in time.

Then from the hole in the roof jumped, one
after the other, Nix and Kelpie.

So bright and smiling they looked that,
despite the harm they had done him, Maurice
warmly shook the hands they held out.

The poor boy had seen no one for two
months, except a merman, who acted as a kind
of jailer, and brought him his daily allowance
of food. All past injuries were forgotten for
the moment in the pleasure of meeting com-
panions whom he had known in happier days.

‘ How are you, old boy?’ said Kelpie. ‘You
don’t look over and above cheerful. We've
come to help you.’

‘Yes,’ said Nix; ‘we played you a nasty
trick last time you saw us. We really could
not help it. Grandfather made us do it, and
we did make him promise not to break the jar
and send the water spinning till we had got you
safe away.’
160 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP,



‘I might have been drowned as it was,’
remarked Maurice.

“Well, you don’t bear malice, do you?’
said Kelpie. ‘We're very sorry. It was not
worth while helping grandfather; he bullied
us shockingly when he had got all he wanted
out of us.’

‘He is not our real grandfather, either,’
added Nix. ‘We belong to a far-away king of
the icebergs ; and our mother brought us down
to these parts, and left us with old Querquex,
who was her uncle or something, while she
went to start a fresh waterfall in the Southern
Seas.’

‘Yes,’ continued Kelpie, the brothers talking
in turns, after their old fashion, ‘and when she
came back and found out how badly he had
behaved to us she was very angry. She brought
us here to stay with our cousins, King Ourisk’s
children, while she was off on another expedi-
tion; and we heard all about you from the
Princess the Pink Shell.’

‘She’s very sorry for you,’ chimed in Nix,
‘and thinks it a beastly shame to treat you like
this, so she asked us to come and help you, and
here we are.’
xu OLD ACQUAINTANCE 161



All Maurice’s difficulties vanished into thin
air. Kelpie and Nix had taken the trouble to
learn the secrets of coral-making and coral-
carving before they made their entrance by the
private way which they had discovered in the
roof. ‘They were careful to replace the rock,
and disappear each day before the arrival of
the jailer, who never stopped an instant after
he had delivered the food, and was quite un-
interested in the progress or failure of the
work.

His friends showed Maurice how to melt the
steel and mix it with the substances to be found
in the walls of the caves ; how to harden it again
into coral; and how to carve it with the tools
which Ourisk had duly supplied, though never
believing that Maurice would be able to use
them. |

Maurice proved to have a natural talent for
carving, and, doubtless, the hope of obtaining
the water increased his aptitude, not to speak of
the fear of thirty-one days with the jelly-fish.

Three months of steady work sufficed for the
completion of the throne, and the three boys
stood looking at it with admiration.

‘There are yet four months before the king
M
162 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP, ~



will ask for it,’ said Maurice ; ‘shall I send him
word that it is finished already?’

‘Better not,’ replied Kelpie ; ‘he might set
you another task.’

‘And a more difficult one still,’ added Nix.

‘Then I will certainly keep quiet about it,’
said Maurice ; ‘ but it will be rather a bore stay-
ing shut up in this old cavern now that my work
is done.’

‘No need for that,’ remarked Kelpie ; ‘ you
can climb up the same way we do, and we will
take you exploring where no one will see you.
Only you must mind and be back when the
jailer calls.’

The boys had plenty of fun in this way ; and
the necessity for caution rather added to the
excitement.

A few days before the end of the nine months,
Kelpie and Nix appeared in a great state of
delight.

‘Our mother has come back!’ cried Kelpie ;
‘she hates Querquex because he was so unkind to
us, and is sure to stand your friend.’

‘Yes, and King Ourisk is very fond of her ;
so if he makes any difficulty when he sees the
throne—pretends it is not so good as the other,
XII OLD ACQUAINTANCE 163



or any nonsense of that sort—she will put it all
right.’

These words proved true.

When the court was assembled, and the
Tritons were called upon to decide on the work-
manship of the new throne, there was a
momentary hesitation. The king was over-
whelmed with astonishment, and inclined to
be angry at seeing his calculations upset, and
the ministers, who cared nothing about the
matter one way or another, were waiting to see
what he wanted them to say.

The Queen of the Icebergs, however, broke
into exclamations of praise, and the Princess
of the Pink Shell chimed in so warmly that
the king forgot his annoyance, and allowed that
the work was really well done and deserved the
reward.

‘Though how the boy learned to do it,’ he
added, ‘I cannot conceive, unless the fear of
the jelly-fish is an even more effectual method
of instruction than his old master led me to
believe.’

So with the consent of Ourisk, Maurice was
given his month’s holiday, which he spent very
happily with his two friends, and on the thirty-
164 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cuap. xu



first day the three boys, with the Queen of the
Icebergs, and the Princess of the Pink Shell,
went together to the Green Well.

King Ourisk had lent them the key which
generally locked the coral covering of the well ;
and the princess had brought a beautiful little
goblet, made of a single pearl, with another for
a lid. The queen filled the goblet with the
magic water and gave it to Maurice, and, with
many good wishes given and received, the happy
boy returned to the upper world with his second
hard-won prize.
CHAPTER XII
THE LAST TRIAL

‘We are nearly there,’ said the phoenix. ‘Do
you hear the rumbling?’

The phoenix is a lovely bird. He is about
the; size, oll a slarae eapley @neinics heads ie
has a magnificent plume of purple and gold
feathers, and his eyes shine like stars. The
plumage of his neck is golden, the rest of his
body is purple, and the feathers of his tail are
scarlet and white. Men say that he lives five
or six hundred years, and when he is too old
to live any longer he makes a nest for him-
self of sweet-smelling gums and herbs. As
he dies, he fans this nest with his wings and
sets it on fire, so that his body is consumed
on a pleasant funeral pile. Out of the ashes
creeps the new little phoenix, for there is never
166 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



more than one phoenix in the world at the same
time.

The phoenix is very seldom seen, so Maurice
was indeed fortunate in being carried through
the air on his back, as he was on the present
occasion.

After his return from the ocean kingdom he
spent another happy week with his parents ; and
then the lady told him that she did not know
the Fire-King personally, but that he was an
acquaintance of her friend, the phoenix, who
would be kind enough to take Maurice and
introduce him to that monarch.

‘Yes, I do indeed hear the rumbling,’ replied
Maurice to the bird’s question; ‘it is like a
thousand furnaces all at work at the same time.’

‘And now you can see the smoke coming
out of the top of the volcano,’ continued the
pheenix. ‘King Agni must be hard at work
just now. I should think he was preparing to
shoot a new island up into the sea.’

‘However are we to get down to him with-
out being burnt?’ asked Maurice.

‘We cannot go down the crater this time,
that is certain, but I can carry you in by the
private door. We are very old friends, and I


The Phenix with a great swoop dashed through the Fiery Clouds.
To face p. 167.

Copyright 1894 by Macmillan & Co.
XII THE LAST TRIAL 167

think he will take you on for my sake. You
must try hard not to irritate him though, for he
is very passionate.’

By this time they had arrived at the lene,
which was throwing out flame, smoke, and lava
at a tremendous rate, so that it was impossible to
see the top of the mountain or indeed much of
the sides.

Maurice was almost suffocated.

‘Will you be able to see your way?’ he
gasped.

‘Be quiet, and hold tight,’ was the only
answer, as the phoenix with a great swoop dashed
through the fiery clouds, and shot straight into
a hole, which none but his’ bright eyes could
have discovered.

Once inside, though the atmosphere was less
stifling, the noise was even louder than before,
and it was unnecessary to tell Maurice to be
quiet, as he could not possibly have made his
voice heard. :

On, on flew the phoenix without ever swerving
to right or left. Maurice could dimly perceive
blazing furnaces, and the swing of gigantic
hammers on every side. He also caught
glimpses of gaunt, black figures flitting amidst
168 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



the red smoke-clouds, without being able to
distinguish if their forms were human.

At length they reached a part of the interior
of the mountain where there were no furnaces,
and entered a large hall lined throughout with
polished steel, on which were wrought designs in
gold, silver, and bronze. These represented
wars, banquets, and hunting expeditions, and
were, in fact, scenes from the lives of King
Agni’s ancestors and their kindred.

The hall was comparatively quiet, as the
noise of hammering and the roar of the furnaces
only reached it from a distance; still it was
uncomfortably hot.

The pheenix alighted on the floor, which was
also of polished steel, and Maurice got off his
back, and thanked him warmly for bringing
him so far.

‘You had better not thank me till we see
what King Agni will do for you. I might have
to take you back again.’

‘I am sure I hope not, at least not for
another year,’ returned Maurice.

Further conversation was interrupted by a
tremendous shouting, clashing of steel, and
clattering of iron outside. Two immense iron
XII THE LAST TRIAL 169



doors at the end of the hall were thrown
violently open, and half a dozen black men,
with iron toes and fingers, and wire instead of
hair, rushed into the room, pursued by a tall
figure dressed in red-hot armour, and evidently
in a fearful passion.

‘ Halloo, King Agni!’ cried the phoenix, ‘this
is a nice greeting for an old friend!’

‘Did you ever see such scoundrels?’ said the
king, quieting down a little ; and coming up to
his friend he shook his head-plume, which is the
proper way of greeting a phcenix when you are
intimate with him. If you are only slightly
acquainted, you should make him a low bow or
curtsey, as the plume-shake would in that case
be too familiar.

‘What have they done?’ inquired the noble
bird, looking at the trembling black men, who
squeezed themselves as flat as they could against
the wall, in hopes that the king would forget
them till he had had time to cool down.

Maurice observed that, as the king’s passion
abated, the armour began to resume the ordinary
colour of steel, and thought how boiling Agni’s
body must have been to have made even his
garments red-hot.
170 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



‘Why, returned Agni, ‘this new suit of
armour does not fit anywhere : the corslet is too
loose, the greaves too tight, and as for the
helmet—did you ever see such a lop-sided
concern? Be off with you,’ he added, turning
to the men, ‘or I will shrivel you up into dead
imps, and erupt you out of the crater as lumps
of lava!’

The men were only too thankful to be off, and
fled from the hall as if they had really been shot
out of a volcano.

‘Well, old fellow,’ continued Agni, seating
himself on an iron stool, ‘how goes the world
with you? and whom have you brought with
you?’

The phoenix shortly explained his errand, and
his request on behalf of Maurice.

‘I know something about the youngster,’
replied the Fire-King, who had quite recovered
his good temper. ‘My distant relation, King
Laurin, comes to see me occasionally, and gives
me what metal I want for my armour, and so
on, in exchange for fire for his furnaces. He
called here last month, and when we were
talking after dinner, he told me about this
boy I don’t mind trying him. You know,
XI THE LAST TRIAL 171



however, that I never give wages without
work ; it would be against all the rules and
regulations of my factories; and if he wants fire
from the Scorpion Lake—the only sort which
will answer his purpose—he must serve for it a
year and a day, like my other slaves.’

‘Certainly, your Majesty,’ said Maurice,
speaking for the first time, ‘and I will do my
utmost to please you.’

‘You may not find that so easy as you think,
young man. However, you shall begin at once.
What, ho, slaves!’ he shouted in a loud voice.

The iron doors flew open without an instant’s
delay, and two men, something like those who
had run out of the room, only rather taller and
smarter in appearance, came in with low bows.

‘Take this young fellow to the Master of
the Salamanders, and tell him to put him on
as attendant till further orders.’

The two men seized Maurice roughly enough,
and led him away. He had just time to call out,
‘ Good-bye, and thank you again,’ to the phoenix,
and to hear his answer, ‘I'll come and fetch
you when your time’s up,’ when the doors closed
behind him, leaving him once more a slave.

King Agni had intended to be good-natured
172 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



rather than otherwise, in appointing Maurice
attendant on his pet salamanders, for service at
the furnaces would have been almost certain
death to a human boy not provided, like his
own subjects, with iron extremities.

A salamander is, as everybody knows, a kind
of large black and yellow lizard, acknowledged
by our ancestors to have been capable of living
in the fire. It is not advisable nowadays to
throw salamanders into the schoolroom fire.
Such experiments have been tried by learned
men with more or less painful results. Probably,
modern salamanders are weaker than those of
ancient days. Anyhow, the salamanders of the
Fire-King lived in the fire and liked it, as
Maurice knew to his cost.

They had a sort of garden full of burning
fuel to frolic about in, with narrow iron paths
crossing it in every direction, along which the
attendants had to walk to take them insects as
- food, and fresh fuel when required.

The salamanders were as hot-tempered as all
the other inhabitants of the volcano; and if their
food and fuel were not brought them the very
instant they chose to want it, they would jump
out of the flames, and come running along the


Some one to care for him, even a red baby !
To face p. 173.
XIII THE LAST TRIAL 173



paths hitting right and left with their horrid
burning tails, which were as big as the whole of
the rest of their bodies, so that poor Maurice’s
legs were sometimes covered with burns and
bruises.

Now King Agni had a baby—not a pretty
baby as we reckon babies, for he was very red
all over, and his hair was perfectly scarlet. Still,
he was not a bad child in his way ; and nothing
pleased him more than to come and feed the
salamanders. He was quite indifferent to the
heat of the fires, which made Maurice feel faint
all the time that he was doing his duty amongst
them, and he would run about the paths, followed
by his black, iron-fingered nurse, and even play
with the salamanders and catch hold of their
tails in his little hands. He became very fond
of Maurice, and Maurice was glad to have some
one to care for him, even a red baby!

About ten weeks after Maurice had come to
the fire-kingdom, a great noise and excitement
rose throughout all the volcanoes, for there were
several lying close together. This was the
cause. King Agni and his ancestors had claimed
dominion over all volcanoes and burning lakes,
plains and territories, of every description.
174. MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



Now the Lord of the Great Yellow Fire Lake,
which was situated amongst some mountains
about a hundred miles from King Agni’s court,
suddenly threw off his allegiance, and refused to
pay tribute or homage any longer.

King Agni was frantic, and grew so hot that
his very armour melted, and began to roll off
him in streamlets, till he saw that he must
positively moderate his wrath, or even his most
seasoned courtiers would have become shrivelled
and useless. He, therefore, exerted his utmost
self-control, summoned his warriors, and bade
them march out of the volcano with a large
stock of thunderbolts, red-hot spears, and
portable braziers, for the purpose of heating their
weapons as fast as they cooled. He told them
that the fire-lake lord was coming to meet
them, and that it was absolutely necessary to
crush him at once, or the other lakes and burn-
ing plains might imitate his audacity, and try
to disown their sovereign.

Maurice, standing with the other slaves and
attendants on the outskirts of the army, heard
his speech, and being desperately anxious both
to see a battle, and to get a breath of outer
air, managed to run round and waylay the
XII THE LAST TRIAL 175



monarch as he was retiring to make his final
preparations.

‘Oh, your Majesty,’ he cried ; ‘do, please, let
me come with the army! I can help to keep
the braziers burning, even if you will not let me
fight.’

At that minute the nurse brought up the
baby to say good-bye to his papa.

‘Dood Maurice,’ said the baby ; ‘ Maurice feed
sallies ;’ he could not say salamanders.

‘Dear little prince,’ said Maurice, ‘ please ask
your papa to take Maurice with him.’

‘ Papa, take dood Maurice with ’oo,’ repeated
the baby.

‘Oh, very well,’ said Agni; ‘ you’ll probably
get killed; but if you are, remember it’s your
own look-out, and don’t let the phoenix blame
me ;’ and he hurried off to get a fresh suit of
armour.

Maurice, in high glee, joined the throng of
camp-followers who accompanied the regular
forces as they issued from the burning mountain.
He got hold of an iron bar, and determined to
use it if he had the chance; meantime, he kept
near one of the braziers, ready to help if wanted.

The forces marched on a mile or two and
176 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



then halted for the night, as it was rumoured
that the enemy was somewhere in the neighbour-
hood, and it was too near dusk to make the
attack that evening.

A ghastly army was King Agni’s. Besides
the black, iron-fingered slaves whom we have
already described, there were his regular fighting
men—tall red figures, with fierce green eyes, and
arms so long that they could touch their feet
when they stood upright. Then there were the
cyclops—one-eyed giants, who formed a corps by
themselves, and carried the thunderbolts—and
the cavalry, brown men with dogs’ heads,
mounted on unicorns.

The weapons were as strange and various as
the champions, and all fashioned to carry fire in
some shape or form.

Maurice had not yet seen the opponents, but
rumour said that they were almost as numerous
and terrible as the king’s army. When he
awoke next morning from his slumbers amongst
the slaves, near the braziers, he found that some
disturbance was already going on in the camp,
and that the soldiers and attendants were running
to and fro in a state of great alarm and
uneasiness.
XII THE LAST TRIAL 177



‘What’s the matter?’ he asked the first slave
he managed to stop.

‘Matter enough,’ was the answer; ‘the baby
prince has been stolen by the enemy. Most
likely the lake lord will kill him; if not, the
king will have to give in, and if he does he
will kill all of us—you included ;’ and the slave
hurried off in a state of distraction.

Matter enough, indeed! Maurice knew that
if the story were true the narrator had not
exaggerated the consequences. Poor little baby!
Would he really be killed? and if so, how many
victims would Agni offer up in his wrath?

‘I know what I will do,’ thought the boy ;
‘they will be sending flags of truce and
messages about the place now, for Agni will
not dare begin fighting while the enemy has
the baby. Tl go and try and get him back.’

Without further consideration he set off to
make his wild attempt. No one tried to stop
him, for in the confusion no one had time to
attend to him. He very soon reached the
outskirts of the enemy’s camp, which had been
pitched not far off, and then paused to see
what were his chances of slipping into it
unobserved. They seemed few indeed. Guards

N
178 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



were pacing up and down on every side, and he
had not the least idea where the baby was
concealed; or, indeed, whether he had been
kept in the camp, or sent to the fire lake as
prisoner.

While Maurice was prowling about at a little
distance from the sentries, he heard a low voice
calling his name from a neighbouring tree.
Turning, he thought he saw a flash of gold and
purple ; and going closer, to his astonishment he
perceived the phoenix.

‘What are you doing here, you runaway
scamp?’ asked the bird.

‘I am not running away, I assure you. The
king’s baby has been stolen by the enemy, and
I have come to look for him. I cannot think
how he was lost.’

‘Very simply. I saw it all,’ replied the
phoenix. ‘That stupid nurse of his wanted to
watch the army march out. She followed,
gaping, for some distance. She was afraid to
keep near it lest she should be ordered back.
Some of the enemy’s spies recognised the scarlet-
haired baby, seized him and her before either
could cry out, and brought them here. .I
would have sent to tell Agni, only the lord of
XI THE LAST TRIAL 179



the lakes spared me the trouble. He is proud
enough of his capture.’

‘Will you help me to save the child, then?’
asked Maurice, eagerly.

‘You little jackanapes! how should vou save
it? You're a plucky little fellow though, and
Agni is my friend. What do you want me to
do?’

‘Tell me where the baby is, and I will creep
in somehow.’

‘It is easy enough to tell you; creeping in
would be more difficult. The baby is in that
purple tent, guarded by the four electric birds.’

‘Which are the electric birds? ’

‘ Those long-legged creatures—something like
colossal storks. They look nearly white in the
daytime, but at night all their feathers glitter
like the full moon.’

‘I should think I could get past them.’

‘Not without their seeing you,’ asserted the
phoenix. ‘Their eyes are as sharp as needles,
Anyhow, you could not carry out the child
without their knowledge. No, there is only
one way. They are desperately fond of sugar,
and near here is a field of sugar-cane. Go, cut
some, and take it to them, then tell them about
180 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



the quantity to be had close by. If you can
persuade them to let you guard the tent whilst
they go to eat it, you may be able to slip away
with the baby. It is a poor chance, yet I see
no other. Now is the best time, since most of
the troops are at breakfast. It would be no
good waiting for night, as the electric birds
shine so that their movements would be much
more quickly noticed in the dark.’

Maurice took the advice given him with the
greatest promptitude, and found the electric
birds even more greedy than he expected. First
one and then the other abandoned his post on
hearing of the sugar-cane, each as he scuttled
away assuring Maurice, who of course pretended
to be one of their own side, that he would ‘be
back directly.’ Not a moment was to be lost.
Maurice was into the tent like quicksilver, and
seized the baby, who was so hot with discomfort
and indignation that he burnt the boy’s fingers,
and was nearly dropped in consequence. Fortun-
ately, on recognising his favourite, he cooled
down at once, and Maurice was able to escape
with him without waking the nurse, who would
certainly have cried out and wrecked the plot.

All was not yet safe. In about ten minutes
XII THE LAST TRIAL 181



one of the electric birds returned to a sense of
duty, and to his post, only to find that his
charge was gone. Off he rushed, half-running,
half-flying, followed by the others who saw the
flight of their companion. Soon they caught
sight of Maurice in the distance, and pursued at
full speed, hoping to recover the child without
letting any one else know of their neglect of
duty.

Maurice ran like the wind, and was halfway
to Agni’s camp when the birds came up with
him. They attacked him viciously with their
beaks and claws ; and he, still holding the little
prince in his left arm, laid about him vigorously
with the iron bar which he grasped in his right
hand. He broke the neck of one bird and
disabled a second, the third wounded him in the
neck, and the fourth made desperate efforts to
wrest the child from him. Hampered by his
burden he hardly knew how to defend both it
and himself, when a welcome voice said : ‘ Jump
on my back, Maurice,’ and he saw the noble
phoenix hovering close by. The electric birds
turned to see who had come to his aid, and
taking advantage of their surprise, Maurice
gave two rapid blows which stunned them for an
182 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cuap. xin



instant ; and leaping on his friend’s back was
far from the scene of action before they had
time to recover their senses.

The phcenix and his rider found Agni at
fever-heat, with his counsellors fainting around
him. His joy was as great as his previous grief
and indignation. ‘The phoenix told the story of
Maurice’s valour and devotion, and the king
overwhelmed the boy with expressions of grati-
tude. A great battle immediately took place.
Maurice rode by the side of Agni on a beautiful
unicorn, and helped to defeat the enemy. He
was then made captain of a guard of soldiers
appointed for the future protection of the royal
infant, and held that distinguished office during
the remainder of his time as servant to the Fire-
King.

At the end of the year and the day the king
solemnly presented him with the fire from the
Scorpion Lake in a splendid golden lamp,
suspended by diamond chains from a girdle of
rubies.


Y
e
K



The most charming of fairies.

Copyright 1894 by Macmillan & Co.

To face p. 183.
CHAPTER XIV
HOME AGAIN

Tue Lady of the Wood stood at the door of
her marble house as the sun was slowly setting
after a lovely summer day. She was now as
beautiful as the most charming of fairies, and
smiled gaily as she talked to the Baron and
Baroness who stood by her side. At a little
distance Herr Karl and Rudolf were eagerly
watching for some expected arrival.

They had not long to wait. A little speck
appeared in the western sky which rapidly grew
larger, and glittered like a gold and purple cloud
in the last rays of the sun.

In a few minutes the phoenix alighted at the
lady’s feet. Maurice sprang from his back, and
kneeling, offered her the gold lamp, with its
jewelled band and chains.
184 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.





‘Well done!’ she cried; ‘your last trial is
over.’

Maurice kissed her hand, and jumping up
fell on the necks of his parents and kissed them
again and again. It is impossible to describe
their happiness at seeing their dear boy, and
knowing that he had conquered all his diffi-
culties.

Herr Karl and Rudolf had then their share
in this joyful greeting. A merry supper
followed, and they afterwards sat out on the
terrace talking beneath the starlight, telling and
hearing the strange adventures with the Fire-
King, and the more ordinary events which had
occurred in the lives of Maurice’s friends.

The lady agreed that Rudolf should now
hear all that had happened, and his astonishment
was mixed with admiration for Maurice, whom
he regarded as the greatest hero that ever lived.

Next morning the lady said she was going to
take them all for an expedition, and the pheenix
announced his intention of accompanying the
party. A large carriage, made of ivory, with
silver wheels, and drawn by four white horses,
was brought round. Into this they all packed

themselves, with the exception of the phcenix,
XIV HOME AGAIN 185



who preferred to fly on ahead. They drove
quickly in the direction of Dickwald, and
stopped near the lake just opposite the spot
where the castle used to stand. Here they all
descended, and the lady told Maurice and
Rudolf to collect smooth stones and place them
in a circle on the ground, with the largest one
they could find in the centre.

She then poured the red earth from the
golden box on this centre stone, bade the
Baroness mix it with the water from the pearl
goblet, and told the Baron to upset the fire from
Agni’s lamp on to the clay thus produced.

There was a pause of breathless suspense.
A bright clear flame shot up towards the sky,
quickly turning into a dense cloud of black
smoke which concealed the stones and clay from
the anxious spectators.

When the smoke passed away the clay had
disappeared, and there stood in its place a Red
Jar, exactly like that which Maurice had lost for
his family three years before.

Maurice and Rudolf jumped for glee; the
Baroness cried for joy ; while the Baron took the
lady’s hand and vainly tried to express his grati-
tude. As for Herr Karl, he embraced the
186 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR CHAP.



pheenix, as he had not yet learnt the proper
way of saluting that distinguished bird. The
phoenix, fortunately, was too pleased to resent
the breach of etiquette.

‘Now,’ said the lady to the Baron, ‘take the
red jar in your hand, fill it with water from the
river, empty it on the ground, and say aloud :
“T claim the lands of Brinkman as my rightful
possession.”

The Baron did as she commanded, and
instantly the waters of the lake began rapidly
to abate. They whirled into the former course
of the river, which rushed in a furious torrent
on its way to the sea.

Fast as the waters had risen on the fatal day
of the deluge, they receded even faster, and a
few hours saw the gloomy lake transformed
once more into a sunny valley!

‘It will want a little time to dry,’ said the
lady ; ‘but when it is again cultivated, it will
be far richer than before.’

A glorious fifth of July. This was Maurice’s
fifteenth birthday, and more than that, it was
the day on which the Baron was to take pos-
session of the new Castle of Brinkman, which
XIV HOME AGAIN 187



had been rebuilt on the old site. Golden corn
once more waved in the fields, and cattle lowed
amidst the rich pasturage in the meadows. A
happy and contented population dwelt in the
villages, and all were prepared to keep this joy-
ful feast.

Maurice had been to school in the interval,
but his holidays had begun four days before.

A. distinguished circle of guests met in the
great hall of the castle, where a magnificent
banquet was spread to welcome them.

The Lady of the Wood, in her richest robes
of green and gold, was seated between her two
former acquaintances—Laurin, the Earth-King,
and Ourisk, King of the Sea. Laurin had
brought Maurice a casket of diamonds as a birth-
day gift ; and Ourisk gave him several strings of
chosen pearls.

The Baroness had on her right hand Agni,
the Fire-King ; and though some anxiety was
felt as the possible consequences of his getting
annoyed, the day went off so successfully that
he kept perfectly cool all the time ; neither the
furniture nor the ladies’ dresses were in the
slightest degree scorched by his approach. He
presented Maurice with a splendid suit of
188 MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cHap.



armour. He had also brought the red baby
with him, and the little fellow remained in the
best of tempers and was highly delighted with
the lady’s hares, who frolicked about, to the
amusement of all present. The baby had grown
very much, but was still backward in pronunci-
ation.

The Baron escorted the Queen of the Ice-
bergs, who, in addition to her former favours,
had permanently disposed of Querquex to the
general convenience.

The King of the Sea had insisted that that
old gentleman should no longer be permitted to
harass the peaceful inhabitants of the neighbour-
hood by his presence. “The queen, therefore, had
asked her husband to provide a hermitage for him
near the North Pole, where he may doubtless
be found by some enterprising explorer of the
future. He has an old walrus to ride, and is
said to be fairly comfortable.

The Princess of the Pink Shell, with Nix
Kelpie, were among the younger members of
the party, and made the hall ring with their
jokes and merriment.

A golden perch was provided for the phoenix
near the centre of the table; and all the other
XIV HOME AGAIN 189



visitors were highly elated at having the oppor-
tunity of being introduced to this rarest of birds.

In fact, never was there such a brilliant ban-
quet, nor such happy people as the friends and
neighbours who crowded to congratulate the
Baron and Baroness on their return to their old
home.

Count Bestern and Herr Wetter and his wife
were among the most honoured guests, and were
once more warmly thanked for the help which
they had given in time of need.

After dinner came the speeches, and every-
body drank everybody else’s health. ‘The three
kings united in their testimony that Maurice
had been a first-rate servant, and was therefore
sure to make an excellent master. The baby
here showed signs of wanting to make a speech,
so he was lifted on to the table, and said very
solemnly : ‘Dood Maurice fed the sallies and
took care of baby! Baby big boy now.’
Whereupon everybody waved their hats and
handkerchiefs, and drank Maurice’s health with
three times three, and one cheer more for the
baby. Games and dancing ended this happy day,
which was the beginning of a new and brighter
life for the Brinkman family.
190 ' MAURICE: OR, THE RED JAR cuap. xiv



If ever you are travelling in the neighbour-
hood of Dickwald, and will call at the Castle of
Brinkman, you may be sure that the hospitable
hosts will bid you welcome, and will show you
among their most valued treasures the gold
box, the pearl goblet, the lamp with its jewelled
chains, and, most precious of all, the famous

Red Jar..

THE END

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